Death not be proud

Sonnet 10

John Donne was a famous metaphysical poet. Sonnet 10 is one of the most striking examples of
Donne’s poetry: it is a sonnet aimed at destroying the power of ‘death’.
Donne uses the idea of Christian eternity to argue that Death is not permanent but it is something
that people pass through on their way to a new eternal life. (la morte non è permanente ma è
qualcosa che le persone attraversano per giungere ad una nuova vita eterna). In this way he also
demonstrates the Christian doctrine of resurrection and immortality of the soul, calling death as an
inferior.
The main theme in this poem is the lack of power of Death (la mancanza di potere della morte). He
denies the power of Death with a logical reasoning: he says that death does not kill people, instead
it liberates their souls and directs them to eternal life. So death should not consider itself mighty
(maiti) or superior as it is not invincible. At the base of the poem there is a big paradox: people do
not die when they meet death, so the poet tells death to die: ‘Death, thou shalt die’ (line 14).

Lines 1-2

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

The poet personifies and talks directly to death. He tells death to not be proud because
‘even though some people consider you mighty and dreadful (powerful and scary), you are
not’ (morte non essere fiera, anche se alcuni ti ritengono potente e spaventosa, perché tu
non lo sei in realtà). This poet uses the literary tactic of “apostrophe”. Apostrophe occurs
when a writer addresses a subject who cannot respond, in this case death.

Lines 3-4

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

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

‘Because those you think you destroyed do not die and you can’t even destroy me’
The poet claims that death thinks that he (dico he perché la morte è personificata) has the
power to kill but he actually does not (Il poeta sostiene che la morte pensa di avere il potere
di uccidere quando in realtà non ce l’ha). The power that death claims to have is a simple
illusion and to further humiliate him he calls him ‘poor death’. In the 4 th line Donne
challenges death even more by saying ‘yet canst thou kill me’, you can’t even kill me.
Even though everyone knows that physical death does indeed occur (anche se tutti noi
sappiamo che la morte fisica della persona avviene per davvero), the poet is challenging
Death in a different way (il poeta sfida la morte in un modo diverso). He uses the Christian
theology of eternity to taunt Death by telling him, essentially, “Even if you take my physical
body, you can never truly kill me.”
Lines 5-6

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

In these lines the poet compares death to rest and sleep, he calls them the other images of
death, something similar to death. He even talks about pleasure to describe how one
should feel about death: death is not something to fear but something liberating, pleasing,
which will lead you to eternal life. Just as a restful night of sleep brings pleasure, so should
death. The speaker implies that sleep is simply a small glimpse of Death. Thus, there is
nothing to fear in death, for death will bring something like a pleasurable sleep.

Lines 7-8

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
‘When our best men will go with you (will ‘die’), this will be rest of their bones and their
soul’s delivery into a peaceful eternity’ (quando i migliori dei nostri uomini se ne
andranno con te, ‘moriranno’, questo non sarà altro che un riposo per le loro ossa e il
viaggio della loro anima verso l’eternità, cioè non moriranno davvero, ma la morte sarà
per loro un momento di riposo e l’inizio della vita eterna per la loro anima). In this way,
the poet completely destroys the false image of a scary and powerful death. Instead here
death is described as a friend who comes to graciously offer rest and peace and the
deliverance of one’s soul from an earthly body where pain and suffering abide (abaid).

Lines 9-10

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

‘you are a slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men, and you live with (convivi con)
poison, war and sickness’ (sei una schiava del fato, della fortuna, dei rei e degli uomini
disperati e convivi con il veleno, la guerra e la malattia).
Here, the poet calls Death a slave to “chance, kings, and desperate men”. (desperate men
are those who commit suicide). He tells Death that he is not mighty and dreadful, but
rather a poor slave who cannot even act on his own but is driven not only by fate and
chance, but also by people. He then accuses Death of having lowly companions such as
“poison, war, and sickness”. He has taunted Death, telling him that he is not to be feared,
but rather that he is a slave to the will of fate and men.
Death does not act on his free will, but he is manipulated by fate, chance and men.
Lines 11-12
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?

‘And drugs and magic charms make us sleep as well as you, and even better, so why are you
so proud? Who do you think you are?’ (Why swell’st thou then? : perché ti inorgoglisci? Chi
ti credi di essere?) Poppy: drugs, oppio.
This comparison portrays death as something not only weak, but also pleasurable as drugs
and magic charms.
“why swell’st thou then?” He is asking him why he is so puffed up with pride, when he
cannot even do his job as well as others can.

Lines 13-14
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die

With these final lines, the poet claims that Death is only “one short sleep” and that those
who experience Death will “wake eternally”. Finally, he tells Death, “thou shalt die”
(PARADOX). Death is only a short sleep that will lead us to eternity. ETERNITY CANNOT
CONTEMPLATE THE CONCEPT OF DEATH (il concetto di eternità annulla il concetto di
morte), so the speaker has told Death that he has no real power over anyone, and that he
will experience the end of himself when all wake in eternity and death will be no more (e
che morirà quando tutti si sveglieranno eternamente/nell’eternità e la morte sarà
annullata, sarà morta, will be no more).

LITERARY DEVICES

PERSONIFICATION: Personification means to attribute human qualities to nonhuman

things. John Donne has presented a personified picture of Death throughout the poem. It tells
Death not to be proud and pride is a human quality.

ALLITERATION It is the repetition of the same consonant sound in the same line such as the
sound of /th/ in “And better than thy stroke” and “why swell’st thou the.” The sound of /m/ is
also repeated in “then from thee much more must flow.” In this way, /th/ sound is repeated in
the first, third, sixth, and twelfth lines. Also, /d/ and /k/ sound is repeated in the fourth line
and /w/ sound is repeated in the thirteenth line.

APOSTROPHE This poem is an argument with Death. The speaker has used an apostrophe to
address Death throughout the poem. The first word of the first line used an apostrophe to set
the context for the rest of the poem. The word “Death” makes it clear to whom the poem is
addressed. In the same way, the speaker stops arguing with the same apostrophe in the last
line. First, fourth, and fourteenth line turns death into its personified version.

ANAPHORA Anaphora is the repetition of words at the start of successive clauses, phrases,
and sentences. In the 10th, 11th, and 12th line, the word “And” is repeated.
ALLUSION This poem reflects the basic teachings of Christianity and its belief in the eternal
world. In different versions of the Bible, the phrase “And Death shall be no more” is written as
“and there shall be nor more death.”