The Sun
The title of the poem is "Sunday Morning," so it isn’t surprising that the "sun" is mentioned so often in the poem. Over the course of the poem, the sun goes from being a source of comfort to...
The Sky
For many religions, the sky represents heaven, where God or the gods live. The protagonist of the poem often turns the sky into a symbol of heaven. By the last stanza, though, the sky becomes just...
Birds
Birds are a big deal in the poem. Seriously, they’re all over the place. The first bird mentioned is the cockatoo, which is a kind of ridiculous-looking tropical bird. But, the cockatoo makes...
Fruit
The poem begins with the woman eating an orange as part of her breakfast, but, soon, just like the cockatoo, the orange becomes a symbol of sacrifice, then comfort. Most of the images of fruit in t...
Water
The images of water are some of the most mysterious images in the poem. At one point, the protagonist dreams that she walks across the ocean to get to Palestine, but, by the end of the poem, she re...
Morning and Evening
Maybe you’re not a morning person, but at least you can understand the appeal: the sun keeps getting brighter, and you have the whole day in front of you. For the protagonist of the poem, mor...
Blood
There are two basic viewpoints in the poem, Christian and pagan, and the symbolism of "blood" has different meanings for each. From the Christian perspective, the "blood" can be a very serious remi...
Christianity
Let’s face it: this poem isn’t really a fair representation of Christian ideas. The Christian perspective in the poem is serious and pretty joyless. It’s probably more accurate to...
Paganism
"Paganism" was a term used by Christians to refer to the religion that Christianity replaced: the religion of Ancient Rome and Greece, with its many gods and goddesses. The Romans especially were k...
Death
Everybody is afraid of death, but Christian scriptures claim to have "defeated" death, because Christians will live in eternal paradise when they die. The poem calls this claim into question by arg...
Other Nature Imagery
There’s a lot of nature imagery in the poem. The protagonist comes to believe that nature, and not religion, gives meaning to her life. However, without any religious explanation, it’s...