"Break of Day" (p. 30) by John Donne

1. What is the denotation of the title, "Break of Day"? What other meaning of the word "break" might be suggested?
2. Who is the speaker? Who is addressed? What is the situation?
3. What possible answers could there be to the question asked in line 3?
4. What are two meanings of the phrase "lie down" (line 4)?
5. Line 9, "This were the worst that it could say," suggests that there are bad things that it might be expected that light could say. What bad things would those be?
6. What implications about the situation are conveyed by the use of the word "honor" in line 11?
7. I believe that the person addressed has said something between lines 12 and 13. What was said?
8. What sense or senses of the word "Admit" (line 16) are being used?
9. What is the point of the comparison contained in the last two lines of the poem?

• Do you agree with the statement at the end of the poem?
• What is the point of view of the person being spoken to?
• How is the relationship portrayed in the poem going to end?
• Does this poem remind you of anything that you have experienced?

• This poem exposes the neediness of women.
• This poem exposes the hypocrisy of men.
• The theme of this poem is emotional honesty.