Glossary and Detailed Explanation

Glossary

Detailed Explanation, Part 1: The Ill-Natured Prelude

Laura's character is shown at once. She is seventy but her mind is sharp. She teases Petra ("Your head is where your heart is - with the guard") and talks to the pigeons as if they were friends: crumbs "for the spryest", "for the gluttons" and "for little ones", and one bird that eats alone on a branch is "a philosopher". This shows she is a regular visitor - she says, "They know just when to expect me," and "I'll bring more tomorrow."

Gonzalo's entry. He is gouty and impatient. He grumbles that the priests should be "saying mass", demands a bench to himself, and wants Juanito to "rout them out". He scares the birds and says, "What do I care about the birds?"

The battle of words. Forced to share Laura's bench, he quarrels with her over every small thing:

Laura is quicker and wittier; Gonzalo is proud and touchy. The humour comes from two stubborn old people who are really very alike.

Detailed Explanation, Part 2: From Snuff to Recognition

The snuff. When Gonzalo offers snuff and both sneeze three times, they discover a funny coincidence. The shared pinch breaks the ice - "The snuff has made peace between us."

The poem. Gonzalo reads Campoamor: "All love is sad, but sad as it is, it is the best thing that we know." Then Laura reads "Twenty years pass. He returns…" without glasses. Gonzalo envies her eyesight, but she says aside, "I know every word by heart." The poem about two lovers who meet again after years foreshadows what is about to happen.

The turning point. Gonzalo mentions Valencia; Laura mentions Maricela. Gonzalo is startled and names Laura Llorente, "The Silver Maiden". Laura is startled in turn. From this moment both begin to recognise each other. Gonzalo praises her beauty: "Fair as a lily, jet black hair and black eyes… She was a dream." Laura says aside: "If you but knew that dream was now by your side."

Hiding behind "a friend" and "a cousin". Laura says Laura was her best friend; Gonzalo says the lover was his cousin. Through these masks they recall the true story - the flowers tossed to and from the balcony, the merchant her parents chose, the insult, the duel at sunrise on the beach, and his flight.

Detailed Explanation, Part 3: The Fictitious Stories and the Ending

Each now invents a romantic, tragic ending to make the past seem nobler:

Their asides are comic: Laura calls his tale "an atrocious lie"; Gonzalo says "She lies worse than I do"; Laura says "You will not get ahead of me in decorating my own funeral."

Why they lie. Both want to hide their embarrassment, protect their pride, and preserve the romantic image of their youth. Neither wants to admit that life went on quite ordinarily after the parting.

The ending. Both decide not to reveal themselves: Gonzalo feels "grotesque now", and Laura feels "too sadly changed". But when Gonzalo stoops, trembling, to pick up her fallen violets - as he once caught her flowers - Laura sees him, and both silently confirm the truth. They part quoting the poem, "Can it be that this is he?" / "Heavens, is it she?", smiling "as if she were again at the window and he below in the rose garden".

Literary Features

Dramatic irony. The audience realises the truth early (at "Maricela") and watches each character think the other is fooled. The irony deepens with each lie and each aside.

Asides. Lines spoken to the audience, unheard by the other character, reveal the real thoughts behind the polite conversation.

Foreshadowing. The poem "Twenty years pass. He returns…" predicts their reunion; the tossed flowers of the past return as the fallen violets at the end.

Humour and pathos. The quarrelling is comic, but the play also carries a quiet sadness about lost love and old age.

Why the title fits. The sunny morning brings both old people to the park and so brings them together. Its warmth matches the mood of the play, which moves from irritation to friendship. And the promise to meet again "if it is a sunny morning" ends the play on a bright, hopeful note.

Vocabulary: Collocations (textbook exercise)

A collocation is a combination of words that are commonly used together and "sound right" to native speakers.

Others in the textbook list: completely satisfied, take charge, bright idea, talk freely.