By John Donne Death, Be Not Proud

Bio January 22, 1572 in London. Founder of Metaphysical Poets. Dad died when he was 4 Oxford & Cambridge. Married a 16 year old Chief secretary Apparently had stomach cancer.

Poem Death, be not proud, though some have callèd 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 an 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 passed, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Rhyme scheme The rhyme scheme of the first stanza is ABBA, and the rhyme scheme of the second stanza is ABBA The rhyme scheme of the third stanza is CDDC, And the last is EE

Analysis Three quatrains and 1 couplet. This poem is a Holy Sonnet #10 It follows the Shakespearean (English) sonnet but follows the Petrarchian rhyme scheme. This poem has many caesuras The meter is iambic pentameter. Death is seen as an allegorical figure.

Death, be not proud, though some have calléd thee Mighty and dreadful, for though art not so; For those whom thou think’st though dost overthrow Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me In line one the poet talks about death as if it is a person, and tells death to not be so proud of himself The second line is saying that people think he is all that that but he is really not In the third line Is saying that death thinks he is killing all these people but he's really not killing anyone, they’re just going to wake up in heaven The fourth he is mocking death by saying poor death, you cant really kill anyone , so you cant 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. In the second quatrain on the first line, the speaker says rest and sleep shouldn’t be fearful it’s a thought and death is not to be feared as it happens everyday. The second line can be interpreted in 2 ways as a person flowing of thoughts of more life or death. In the third line, the speaker says even the best men die just like everybody else because eventually have to go through it. The final line means that even though their physical life form is no longer there, their spirit still remains.

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? In the third quatrain of the poem, the speaker is saying that death is only around the negative things of the world. Associated with the poison, war, and the sickness caused by the world. The speaker then goes on to say that with the use of drugs it can put someone to sleep instead of dying and going into an eternal sleep. The quatrain ends with the speaker telling death why is he proud if some deaths aren’t caused by himself.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. The first part of line 13 refers to the time that it takes for the deceased person to reach the afterlife. In the second part, when that person “wakes” they are already in the afterlife for eternity now that that person is in heaven. The first part of line 14 is saying that once that person is in the afterlife, death is non-existent. The second part says that death is finished now that it can not do anything to the people in the afterlife.

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