by
John Donne
(Poem & Summary & Analysis)
In the words of John Donne himself “his age was an
age of rusty iron.” The period saw colonial expansion. The price-rise
continued. Society did not change much. City men invested in land and landowners
took to industrial and commercial enterprise. In polities, the climax was the
Civil War, followed by the restoration of a monarchy.
Donne’s early poems are erotic and sensual and were
published only after his death. His divine poems are equally passionate in expressing
his complex and deep religious emotion. Donne is generally considered a rebel
in poetry.
Death Be Not Proud
Death
be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty
and dreadful, for, thou art not, sue,
For,
those, whom thou thinks, thou dost overthrow,
Die
not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me;
From
rest and sleeps, which but thy pictures bee,
Much
pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And
soonest our best men with thee doe goes,
Rest
of their bones, and souls deliveries.
Thou
art slave to Fate, chance kings, and desperate men,
And
dost with poison, ware, and sicknesses dwell,
And
poppies, or charms can make us sleeps as well,
And
better than thy stroke; why swell’s thou then?
One
short sleep past, wee wake eternally,
And
death shall be not more, Death thou salt die.
In this sonnet, Donne
reflects upon the nature of death. Addressing death, the poet says, that it is
not mighty and dreadful. It is not powerful because it does not kill the poet.
Rest and sleep are the pictures of death and therefore much pleasure must
inevitably flow from it. When the best of the human beings are said to go with
death, it is only because that brings rest for their weary bones and relieve
their souls from the sufferings of the earth.
John Donne says that Death
has no terror for him. Addressing Death, the poet says that it is no more than
a slave to fate, kings and desperate men, for it acts at their command. It
resides with poison, war and sickness. Poppies and Charms can also put men to
as deep sleep as death can. This sleep is better than the sleep induced by
death. Why, then ask the poet, does death feel so proud of itself? Death can
bring short interval of sleep, after which the soul wakes for eternity. Thus,
with the soul’s awakening, death itself dies. It ceases to exist.
Death, be not proud is one
of the best poems of John Donne which is holy Sonnet 10. It was written in 1610
and was published in 1633. The title of the poem comes from its first line.
Donne highlights his Christian belief taking reference from Bible Corinthians
15:26, where Paul writes 'the final enemy to be destroyed is death'.
The death is personified
and the speaker brings forth an argument; the argument is that Death is not all
powerful as we are forced to think. Finally, Death gives us the way to the
eternal life, a kind of freedom from this worldly sorrow. Death is just a sound
sleep from which we will awake at the Day of Judgment. From that day, there
will not be death. On that very day, Death dies. So, there is no reasoning in
fearing of Death and Death too does not have any logical reason to be proud of.
At the beginning of the
poem, Death is shown as mighty and dreadful as it has the power to take the
lives of all. But the speaker denies its power immediately saying ‘poor’ death
and announces that it will not kill him. He presents his idea of afterlife and
says that death is just a way to the never-ending world of pleasure and life.
He says people never die. The speaker criticizes the Death for its pride.
Actually, for the speaker, Death is a slave to other unseen forces of the
universe like destiny, coincidences, kings and desperate men. Death becomes a
passage from worldly weariness, pain, failure to the eternal pleasure and
happiness. Death is more peaceful than the rest and sleep, which ultimately
restores energy.
The speaker proves
that the Death is only connected to the negative and destructive forces of the
life such as, poison, battle, sickness, accidents et cetera. Opium and other
drugs can bring sound sleep better than the Death. Because of the servile
nature of the Death and its connection with the evil events of the life of a
human being, Death should not be proud. Death itself will end, on the Day of
Judgment, but human beings have life after death which is eternal. Donne
applies his metaphysical wit in the choice of structure, poetic techniques,
language, irony, and paradox.
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