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Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
John Donne
Read poems about / on: death, fate
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Click here to write your comments about this poem (Death Be Not Proud by John Donne)
Yolanda Titus (11/12/2008 7:15:00 AM)
As a child reading John Donne poetry for the first time it was always amazing how this man looked at death, people say he was obsessed with it. To a certain excend I agree, but John Donne was doing what most people in this day and age cannot do and that is facing the one thing he feared. He shows us no matter how small you may think you are facing the one thing you fear helps you conque anything that you fear. The empowerment at the end of the poem ' one short sleep and you wake up eternaly and Death will be no more, Death you will die...' He kills Death and that liberates him from his fear. |
Michael Pruchnicki (4/21/2008 8:33:00 AM)
I don't know about ultimate statements of defiance or everlasting
connections between poet and God, but I do know that Donne's
sonnet represents a monument of metaphysical poetry. Yes, he
was obsessed with death, but he also yearned for union with God
and ultimate salvation. How he expressed that obsession and
yearning in his poetry was in the striking imagery and the use of
ordinary speech, new for his time (17th century) and place.
Metaphysical poetry is marked by highly complex and greatly
compressed meanings. Read the sonnet with these features in
mind and compare it to some of today's poetry and note the
similar tone and attitude! |
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