Summary & Analysis “Death Be Not Proud” By John Donne
“Holy Sonnet 10,” often referred to as “Death, Be Not Proud,” was written by the English poet and Christian cleric John Donne in 1609 and first published in 1633. The poem is a direct address to death, arguing that it is powerless because it acts merely as a “short sleep” between earthly living and the eternal afterlife—in essence, death is nothing to fear. The sonnet is written mostly in iambic pentameter and is part of a series known as Donne’s “Holy Sonnets”(or “Divine Meditations”/ “Divine Sonnets”). In keeping with these other poems, “Holy Sonnet 10” is a devotional lyric that looks at life’s biggest questions in the context of Donne’s religious beliefs.
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 in Death, be not Proud, 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.”
Summary & Analysis “Death Be Not Proud” By John Donne
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 in Death, be not Proud, 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 the “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. These 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.
Summary & Analysis “Death Be Not Proud” By John Donne
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 of Death, be not Proud, 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 “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.
Summary & Analysis “Death Be Not Proud” By John Donne
THEMES
- The Powerlessness of Death
In this sonnet, often referred to by its first line or as “Holy Sonnet 10,” the speaker directly addresses death, seeking to divest it of its powers and emphasize that man, though fated to die, is more powerful than death itself. The poem paints a picture of death as prideful—vain, even—and works to deflate death’s importance by arguing firstly that death is nothing more than a rest, and secondly that following this rest comes the afterlife, which contradicts death’s aim of bringing about a final end. With death’s powerlessness proven by the end of the poem, it is death itself, not man, who is going to die.
The speaker clearly argues against death being treated as something strong and important. In essence, he reasons that nobody who dies is actually dead. Though death is personified as a boastful figure that proudly trades on its reputation as “mighty and dreadful,” the speaker, through logical argument, aims to show death as petty and weak. In order to build this picture of “poor death” as a pitiable figure, the speaker directly does not confront death, insisting that nor yet canst thou kill me and quickly establishing the poem as a message of defiance.
Death is then compared to sleep, one of the most commonplace and beneficial of all human activities. People generally feel good after sleep and rest, the poem reasons, so why shouldn’t they feel good after death? Death is simply rest for men’s “bones”—their physical selves—while their souls move on to the afterlife.
Having established death as nothing more than a restful passage between life on earth and the eternal life, the speaker presents death’s more fearful properties—represented by images like the grim reaper—as comically inaccurate. One can read the speaker’s declaration that “death, thou shalt die” as his assertion that this idea of death as something frightening and omnipotent will meet its end. The speaker of the poem thus aims to flip death on its head—its pride is misplaced because it is nothing for people to be afraid of. The speaker achieves this by literally talking down to death, making a mockery of its inflated idea of itself.
The poem also paints death as “slave” to earthly things, further emphasizing death’s powerlessness. Death is associated with “fate, chance, kings … desperate men … poison, war, and sickness.” It is completely of the earth, the speaker implies, and depends upon earthly things for its existence. Death is not a master of anything, then, but a slave.
Even as a form of rest, death isn’t all that impressive. Indeed, the speaker mentions “poppy” (opiate drugs) and “charms” (magic and spells) as better means of obtaining rest. Thus whichever way death is looked at, it’s inferior to something else. It is, essentially, irrelevant, summed up by the speaker’s question, “why swell’st thou then?” The speaker asks death what it actually has to be prideful about. Overall, the poem presents death as having just one function: to transition people between life and the afterlife. With its fearsome power dispelled, death itself can die.
- APPEARANCE VS. REALITY
Death seems mighty and powerful, but it is not. Death brings stillness that seems permanent, but this is not the reality. Death is arrogant but it always depends on poison, war, illness or another mishap to do the job on its behalf. It always needs a crime partner. It is a slave to fate, chance, kings, and even hopeless men. Despite its fearful idea, poppy and other charms can also cause death like effects. According to the speaker’s Christian beliefs, on the final Day of Judgment, all dead people who ever lived will come back to life. There will be no more death and the powerful-looking Death will die itself.
- MORTALITY VS. IMMORTALITY
Death is due and every single body has to taste it. Everyone is bound to die and this causes fear of death in humans. People always look at death as an end. The speaker in the poem looks at death with a positive approach. Humans have immortal souls living in mortal bodies. Death takes humans from their mortal and temporary world to an immortal status. The fear of death rises from one’s attachment to one’s self, relations, material possessions, and ignorance about what will happen after death. Death is just punctuation in our long story of struggles. This far-sighted outlook towards death gives immense possibilities of making good of one’s life without any insecurity about death.
LITERARY DEVICES IN “DEATH, BE NOT PROUD”
Literary devices are used to bring clarity, richness, and uniqueness to the text. Donne has used various literary devices to allow readers to try to find more interpretations. The analysis of some of the literary devices is given below.
- Personification: Personification means to attribute human features to non-human things. Donne has personified death throughout the poem, stating it should not be proud. Being proud is a human quality. Hence, death is given a human quality of having feelings and emotions.
- Metaphor: There are three metaphors in this poem. The first is used in the opening line “Death, be not proud.” Here death is compared to a proud man. The second is used in the ninth line, “Thou art slave to fate.” In the last line in an extended metaphor where death is compared to the non-existent or unrealistic object.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of the poetry such as the use of /th/ in “And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then” and /m/ sound in “Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow.”
- Metonymy: Metonymy is a type of metaphor in which an object is used to describe something closely related to it. In this poem, “poppy” and “charm” are used to produce gentle sleep or death.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line of poetry such as the sound of /a/ in “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,” and the sound of /e/ in “And soonest our best men with thee do go.”
- Irony: Irony means a statement that may mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written. Irony often expresses something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous. For example: “Death, thou shalt die.”
POETIC DEVICES IN “DEATH, BE NOT PROUD”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in which the same idea runs throughout the poem. In this sonnet, John Donne has combined the Shakespearian and Petrarchan style. The division of the sonnet reflects the Shakespearian structure, whereas the rhyme scheme shows the structure of Petrarchan sonnet.
- Rhyme Scheme: In first, second and third quatrains the poem follows the ABBA rhyme scheme, and in couplet the rhyme scheme is AA.
- Meter: Most of the verses of this poem are written in iambic pentameter in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, as it is stated, “from rest,” “and ” However, the meter fluctuates, as the poem progresses.
TONE
The tone of the poem is dark, challenging, and mocking. It begins as a challenge to Death but in the later parts, the one-sided conversation humiliates Death.
Summary & Analysis “Death Be Not Proud” By John Donne