Death, be not Proud: John Donne

Death, be not Proud: John Donne

Title of the poem: Death, Be Not Proud Name of the poet: John Donne School of Poetry: Metaphysical

Type of poetry: Devotional lyric

Class: B.A. I (English Honours)

Paper: II

5/28/2020 2 Dr. Subodh Kumar Jha S N S College Jehanabad

one of the 19 Holy Sonnets, published in 1633 in the first edition of Songs and Sonnets

devotional lyric directly addresses death – defiant against its perceived haughtiness

A recurring theme in Donne’s poetry – death is unable to corrupt the eternal soul

Consists of two stanzas: octave and sestet


Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and

desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.


In the opening octave, the speaker – debunks the belief that death is a victor explains that death cannot kill him -

▪ it can merely rest his weary body ▪ and free his soul to heaven

In the concluding sestet, the speaker - lambasts death’s proud posturing explains that death cannot choose its victim but must rely on the whims of fate and human decision

The closing couplet dramatically underscores the poet’s argument: One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.


Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

The speaker personifies death –

talks directly to him He paints Death as an arrogant being -

One who needs to be humbled He takes this task of humbling Death -

tells Death not to be so proud even though for generations people have feared Death and called him

“mighty and dreadful” With absolute authority , the speaker declares “thou art not so”

Remarkable use of “apostrophe” to drive home his point (Note: Apostrophe occurs when a writer addresses a subject who cannot

respond)


For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. The speaker accuses death -

of having illusions of grandeur lashes out to him a series of humiliation -

▪ Death thinks that he has the power to kill, he actually does not. ▪ Death’s idea that he has the power to overthrow lives is simply an illusion.

Calls him “Poor Death” – Makes fun of Death for having lived under the illusion that he had any sort of

power over life or death Challenges Death:

“yet canst thou kill me”. the speaker’s challenging is different –

uses the Christian theology of eternity to taunt Death essentially, “Even if you take my physical body, you can never truly kill me.”


From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, compares death to “rest and sleep” uses the word “pleasure” to describe how one should

feel about death Just as a restful night of sleep brings pleasure, so

should death Implication is: sleep is simply a small glimpse of Death There is nothing to fear in death- death will bring something like a pleasurable sleep


And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.

The speaker voices the often asked question –

why the best men seem to experience death the soonest

Offers an answer by suggesting –

the best among men deserve to experience the peaceful rest of death sooner,

without having to endure the agonies of a long life on the earth

Describes Death as –

“rest of their bones” and “soul’s delivery”.

Death thus is a welcome friend. 5/28/2020 9 Dr. Subodh Kumar Jha S N S College Jehanabad

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, strongly taunts Death calls him- a slave to “chance, kings, and desperate men” not mighty and dreadful rather a poor slave who cannot even act on his own-

driven not only by fate and chance, but also by people, rich and poor alike”.

accuses Death -

of having lowly companions such as “poison, war, and sickness” Of being a slave to the will of fate and men

As a lowly slave, his companions are even lowlier sickness and war

This accusations serves to allow the readers to feel - a sense of power and victory over Death

puts Death in his place by talking down to him


And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then? Continues to taunt Death – rather more vehemently All that Death brings is a little sleep other bringers of rest such as “poppy” or “charms” do it

better than death This comparison portrays Death as -

weak even pleasurable

The speaker questions Death – “why swell’st thou then?” why he is so puffed up with pride, when he cannot even do

his job as well as others can.


One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die speaker reveals –

why he has been taunting death so relentlessly his reasons for claiming that Death is weak and easily overcome-

▪ even though Death is real, ▪ and that people who experience Death do not come back to earth

claims that - Death is only “one short sleep” and that those who experience Death will “wake eternally”

“death shall be no more” - “thou shalt die”. Death has no real power over anyone – he will experience the end of himself when all wake in eternity and

death will be no more 5/28/2020 12 Dr. Subodh Kumar Jha S N S College Jehanabad

John Donne’s ‘Death, Be Not Proud’ is a well known sonnet –

one of the 19 Holy Sonnets

A devotional lyric that –

directly addresses death in a defiant tone

death is no more a victor, which it proudly proclaims

death cannot choose its victim but must rely on the whims of fate and human decision.


Thank You!


Documents

Death, be not Proud: John Donne