Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Themes

Mortality
The poem takes an assertive stand against mortality. It makes the
paradoxical statement that mortality is itself mortal. In other words, death
doesn’t exist in the long run. But, the speaker woul...

Dreams, Hopes, and Plans

The big dream and hope in the poem is to defeat Death and go to Heaven.
The speaker is confident that his faith in God won’t let him down, but that’s
the thing about faith: it doesnR...

Courage
We’ve got to admit it: we’re impressed. It takes real guts and chutzpah to
stand up to Death. Throughout the entire length of the poem, the speaker
never once drops his guard. In fact,...

Religion
Back in Donne’s day, the smartest, funniest, hippest writers – The
Metaphysical Poets – are the ones who can talk about complex religious
topics while letting fly with jokes, puns...

Rhyme Scheme
The rhyme scheme of "Death, Be Not Proud" is as follows: ABBA, ABBA, CDDC, EE.

Meter
The meter varies, although most of the poem is in iambic pentameter, as in lines 5-7:

.......1....................2....................3................4...............5
From REST..|..and SLEEP,..|..which BUT..|..thyPIC..|..tures BE

.......1....................2....................3..................4......................5
Much PLEA..|..sure; THEN..|..from THEE..|..muchMORE..|..must FLOW,
Figures of speech

Imagery and symbolism in Death be not Proud

PersonificationMetonymy

Personification
The main figure of speech in Death be not Proud is the personification.

 Death is given negative human traits: pride mainly, but also pretence and
inferiority.
 Death is likened to sleep, a commonplace image. Donne doesn't pursue this
image very far in the second quatrain, but then picks it up in the third,
suggesting that death can never be more than sleep. The final reference to
sleep is in the couplet: „One short sleep past'. Death really is no more than a
short sleep. It has been reduced step by step in this extended metaphor.

Metonymy
„Poppy and charms' refer to the use of opium and magic to produce sleep, or,
ambiguously, to produce a gentle death. Technically „poppy' is a metonymy rather
than a metaphor: it is what is derived from the poppy that is the opiate, not literally
the flower itself.
But then death is likened to a slave as well, and this is the startling conceit. It has no
choice where it is to fall. „Fate, Chance, king' are all examples of metonymy,
suggesting certain reasons why death occurs:

 Chance we can understand as accidents

 Kings as the whole judicial and/or the military system
 Fate must suggest a wider concept, that our length of life is decreed elsewhere,
and death is therefore no more than an executioner. Although Fate is not in
itself a Christian concept, the Bible does suggest a sense of destiny in the
matter: „Just as man is destined to die once' Hebrews 9:27.

 Brief Background
 'Death Be Not Proud' is a sonnet written by the English author John
Donne (1572-1631). Donne initially wrote poems based on romance, but
moved into more religious themes as his career matured. In his later life, he
converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism, the official Church of England.
His later poems reflect his deep religious faith and his life as an ordained
priest and dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. 'Death Be Not Proud' is a
piece showing the religious undertones in Donne's poetry.
 Poem Summary
 This poem is a part of the Holy Sonnets, which is a series of 19 poems written
by Donne that center on his religious beliefs and ideals. This poem follows the
structure of a Petrarchan sonnet, which has 14 lines divided into an 8-line
stanza and a 6-line stanza.

With Death, be not Proud, the speaker affronts an enemy, Death personified. This enemy is
one most fear, but in this sonnet, the speaker essentially tells him off. The way the speaker
talks to Death reveals that he is not afraid of Death, and does not think that Death should be
so sure of himself and so proud. The confident tone of Death, be not Proud, and the direct
confrontation of Death provides an ironic sense of comfort to the readers by implicitly
suggesting that Death is not to be feared at all, but that in the end, Death will be overcome by
something even greater.

John Donne

Death, be not Proud (Holy Sonnet

10) by John Donne
With Death, be not Proud, the speaker affronts an enemy, Death personified. This
enemy is one most fear, but in this sonnet, the speaker essentially tells him off. The
way the speaker talks to Death reveals that he is not afraid of Death, and does not
think that Death should be so sure of himself and so proud. The confident tone
of Death, be not Proud, and the direct confrontation of Death provides an ironic sense
of comfort to the readers by implicitly suggesting that Death is not to be feared at all,
but that in the end, Death will be overcome by something even greater.

Death, be not Proud (Holy Sonnet

10)Analysis
Lines 1-2
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
The speaker immediately creates a personified version of death by talking directly to
him. He paints a picture of Death as an arrogant being, and one who needs to be
humbled. The speaker assumes the position of the one who must humble this being,
Death. He tells him that he ought not to be so proud, even though for generations
people have feared Death and called him “mighty and dreadful”. The speaker,
however, with a voice of absolute authority on the matter, simply states, “thou art not
so”. This poet uses the literary tactic of “apostrophe” to drive home his point.
Apostrophe occurs when a writer addresses a subject who cannot respond. Readers
know immediately that this sonnet will consist of one speaker who will do all of the
talking and accusing of his subject. Death, though adequately personified, cannot
respond to the accusations of the speaker.
Lines 3-4
For those whom thou think‟st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
Here, the speaker accuses death of having illusions of grandeur. He claims that while
Death thinks that he has the power to kill, he actually does not. The speaker first
humbles Death by telling him that his idea that he has the power to overthrow lives is
simply an illusion, and that he has no such power at all. Then, to further humiliate
Death, the speaker calls him “Poor Death”. It sounds almost as if the speaker is
making fun of Death for having lived under the illusion that he had any sort of power
over life or death. Then, he addresses Death in a more personal manner, challenging
him by saying, “yet canst thou kill me”. It seems dangerous for one to threaten death
in this way. However, knowledge of John Donne‟s background and ideologies can
give some insight into the speaker‟s confidence here. Though everyone knows that
physical death does indeed occur, the speaker is challenging Death in a different way.
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,
With these lines, the speaker compares death to “rest and sleep” and even uses the
word “pleasure” to describe how one should feel about death. 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.
Here, the speaker says that the best men seem to experience death the soonest. While
others have long questioned why it seems as if the best people die soonest, the speaker
offers an answer here, suggesting that 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. The speaker describes Death as “rest of their bones” and “soul‟s delivery”.
Both of these descriptions make Death seem like a welcome 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.

Lines 9-10
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
Here, the speaker takes on a stronger tone and begins to taunt Death with more
ferocity than he did at first. Here, he calls Death a slave to “chance, kings, and
desperate men”. 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, rich and poor alike”. 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, and
that as a lowly slave, his companions are the even lowlier beings such as sickness and
war. This accusations serve to allow the readers to feel a sense of power and victory
over Death. The speaker certainly feels authority over Death, and he passes this
feeling along to his readers when he puts Death in his place by talking down to him.

Lines 11-12
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell‟st thou then?
The speaker continues to taunt Death even more, saying that all he brings is a little
sleep, and he doesn‟t even do that as well as some other bringers of rest such as
“poppy” or “charms”. This comparison further portrays Death as something not only
weak, but even pleasurable. The speaker questions Death, asking “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 speaker reveals exactly why he has been taunting death so
relentlessly. Although it is obvious that Death is real, and that people who experience
Death do not come back to earth, the speaker reveals his reasons for claiming that
Death is weak and easily overcome. He claims that Death is only “one short sleep”
and that those who experience Death with “wake eternally”. Then, he claims that
“death shall be no more”. Finally, he tells Death, “thou shalt die”. The speaker has not
only told Death that he has no real power over anyone, but that he will experience the
end of himself when all wake in eternity and death will be no more.