“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time—”
—Emily Dickinson, I’ll Tell You How the Sun Rose

Last week was an amazing day—summer-like, warm, and sunny. I went for a long walk with my family through the forest to the park, enjoying the sun’s golden beams. We were not alone. The park was full of people playing, walking, and biking, all appreciating the warmth granted by the sun.

I am currently reading Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, where the sun’s nourishment plays a significant role in the story. It made me reflect on how the sun is represented in language—how it is perceived and which of its characteristics have been used to express emotions and daily life experiences. To explore this, I turned to idioms and proverbs, which serve as linguistic fossils preserving the worldview of our ancestors.

The Scarcity of Sun-Related Idioms

To my surprise, I could recall only a few sun-related idioms in Polish:

• Nie porywaj się z motyką na słońce (“Don’t go after the sun with a hoe”)
• Nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca (“Don’t praise the day before sunset”)
• Pewny jak słońce na niebie (“As certain as the sun in the sky”)

In English, I could only think of:

• Make hay while the sun shines.

This puzzled me. Compared to other elements of nature, the number of sun-related idioms seemed scarce. Even fleeting clouds, which come and go, are present in numerous expressions, such as:

• Every cloud has a silver lining
• Head in the clouds
• On cloud nine
• Clouded judgment
• Z dużej chmury mały deszcz (“From a big cloud, little rain”)
• Czarne chmury nad kimś wiszą (“Black clouds hang over someone”)

Why So Few Idioms About the Sun?

The sun, in contrast, is a constant force—reliable and ever-present. It rises and sets each day, providing light and warmth, the essence of life itself. So why does it appear so rarely in idioms?

My professor used to say: If you don’t know where to start or get stuck, begin at the beginning. He often meant checking a dictionary to find a word’s meaning. In this case, to understand the scarcity of sun-related idioms, I needed to revisit not just the meaning of “idiom” but also its origins and purpose.

Idioms primarily serve to express complex thoughts or emotions in a concise and memorable way. They add color and imagery to language, making speech more vivid and engaging. Many idioms originate from practical, everyday experiences, often tied to environmental changes or specific human activities. Elements of nature like rain, storms, and clouds directly impact daily life in ways that are visible and immediate. Rain refreshes, cleanses, and nourishes plants. Storms can bring destruction and appear suddenly. Clouds may bring rain or drift by without consequence, floating high above, detached from mundane concerns. Because of their unpredictability, elements like water, storms, and clouds tend to be more emotionally charged or tied to specific experiences, especially emotions that are far from being stable. In the result, they lend themselves well to idioms:

• Wpadać jak burza (“To burst in like a storm”)
• Z dużej chmury mały deszcz (“From a big cloud, little rain”)
• Rosnąć jak grzyby po deszczu (“To grow like mushrooms after rain”)

The sun, however, is different. It has always been present—predictable, reliable, yet distant and unreachable. Its steady nature makes it less likely to inspire the kind of expressive, figurative language that fuels idioms.

The Sun as a Sacred Symbol

But there’s another, perhaps more important reason for the sun’s relative absence in everyday expressions: its sacred and symbolic significance. Across cultures, the sun has been revered as a deity or a symbol of divine power. Ancient civilizations worshiped sun gods, including:

• Ra (Ancient Egyptian)
• Helios / Apollo (Ancient Greek)
• Surya (Hinduism)
• Dadźbóg (Slavic)
• Lugh (Celtic)

As a personification of the sun, these gods embodied life, power, clarity, and enlightenment. This elevated status may have limited the sun’s use in casual, humorous, or everyday idioms.

The Sun in Literature and Poetry

To truly find the sun in language, we must look beyond idioms—toward more sophisticated, poetic expressions. Instead of being reduced to common sayings, the sun shines in allegories, metaphors, and literary symbolism.

For example, in The Republic, Plato uses the sun as the ultimate source of truth and enlightenment. In his allegory of the cave, those who leave the darkness and see the sun gain real knowledge, while those who remain in the shadows stay ignorant.

Poetry, too, is rich with sun imagery. Here are just a few examples:

• William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
  “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon.”
• Emily Dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death
  “We passed the setting sun, or rather, he passed us.”
• Arthur Rimbaud, Sun and Flesh
  “The Sun, the hearth of affection and life,
  Pours burning love on the delighted earth.”
• Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
  “The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun.”
• Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Do słońca
  “Oko Trójcy, słońce złotorzęse!
  Leczniczą Twoją, ponadfiołkową źrenicą
  Spójrz na tę ludzką ziemię, do życia niezdolną.”
  (“Eye of the Trinity, golden-rayed sun!
  With your healing, beyond-violet pupil,
  Gaze upon this human earth, incapable of life.”)
• Czesław Miłosz, Słońce
  “Barwy ze słońca są. Bo ono nie ma
  Żadnej osobnej barwy, bo ma wszystkie.
  I cała ziemia jest niby poemat,
  A słońce nad nią przedstawia artystę.”
  (“The colors come from the sun. For it has no
  Color of its own, for it holds them all.
  And the whole earth is like a poem,
  While the sun above it portrays the artist.”)

The Sun Beyond Idioms

With these beautiful words in my heart, I will cherish sunny days and embrace the nourishment the sun sends to us on its rays. I will smile, knowing that the sun has always been highly regarded and valued—not through idioms, but through poetry, philosophy, and mythology.

Enjoy the sun!

Anna Kaminska