Background of the Poem
“Death, be not Proud,” also referred to as Sonnet X, is a fourteen-line sonnet written by John Donne, an English metaphysical poet, and Christian cleric. It is one of the nineteen Holy Sonnets which were published in 1633 within the first edition of Songs and Sonnets. It was written probably in 1609 when Donne was working for the English church as an anti-Catholic advocate. This poem is an ecclesiastical lyric that looks at death in the context of John’s religious beliefs and socio-political situation of seventeenth-century England.
“Death, not be Proud” is written in England of the seventeenth century. It was the time when the British were expanding across the world. Also, it had been a time of great religious turmoil. Life at that time in England was uncertain, violent, and unstable. Donne was living in the time of the anti-Catholic environment. People were imprisoned for their Catholicism. They were killed as well. During that religious tension, Donne converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism. Later, he became a cleric. His religious experience and beliefs are the main subject of this poem.
The difference between the two sorts of Christianity played a crucial role in Donne’s conscience. His beliefs are reflected in “Death, be not Proud.” It shows that he is confirmed about choosing the proper path which can grant access to the afterlife. Through this poem, he is preaching his ideas. This poem suggests that those people who do not live consistent with Christian beliefs must face eternal damnation. On the opposite side, true believers are not scared of God and death. This poem alludes to the Christian belief that death is a short nap before eternal existence.
Historical Context
It is also important to know the historical context of the poem. In the seventeenth century, England was going through huge political and social transformation. Two centuries before this era, England went through the “dark ages” alongside the remainder of continental Europe. There was a political disturbance, epidemic diseases, and an overall degeneration. The horrible Bubonic plague that hit England hard in the thirteenth century appeared again in 1603. It was called “Black Death.” At least thirty-three thousand people died in the epidemic. It caused massive deaths and destruction to British society. This socio-political context was more tending to bring about the revitalization of Christian norms and values which have seen a downfall within the “dark ages.”
At this tough time, the realism and optimism of John Donne’s poetry caught the attention of the seventeenth-century English public. Poems like “Death, be not Proud” got popular due to two main reasons. Firstly, the universal subject of death and the Christian concept of eternal life was appealing for the chaos stricken English society. Secondly, using written words as a source of communication made it possible to convey a message to all the sections of society.
Death Be Not Proud Summary
The speaker personifies and addresses Death directly. He tells Death not to be arrogant and proud of snatching people’s lives away. He converses with Death that just because people are scared of Death and find it powerful and monstrous, it shouldn’t be proud. He tells Death that it is not as people perceive it because people do not die when it comes to killing them. The speaker pities Death and says that even the speaker will not truly die when Death will arrive for him.
The speaker compares Death to rest and sleep. He calls them the other images of Death. He predicts Death to be more pleasant and delightful than rest and sleep. The speaker calls those people “best men” who are taken away by Death. The reason for this is because Death is nothing more but a means of the resting of these bodies and the transformation of their souls to the eternal world.
Death is a submissive activity to luck and fate. It is obedient to kings, rulers, and those people who act in despair. The speaker also mentions that Death is linked to toxins, battles, and illness. Intoxicants and magic spells work more effectively than Death by putting people to rest. The speaker then asks Death that after knowing all this, why is it still so full of pride?
Next, the speaker says that Death is just a short sleeping phase between the temporary world and the eternal afterlife. There in the eternal world, Death visits no more. It is the Death itself or a certain scary idea of Death that is going to die.
Themes in the Poem
Death is Powerless
The speaker in the poem starts his conversation with Death by addressing it directly. It shows the power of man over Death. Though man is mortal, he is still superior to Death. The poem depicts the picture of Death as powerless and weak. It negates the higher status of Death by comparing it to rest and sleep. Death does not make an end to life but it transfers souls to the eternal world. The powerlessness of Death is proved in the last lines of the poem when the speaker says that it is the Death itself that dies.
The speaker argues that although people are scared of Death and consider it mighty, no one really dies when they die. Through logical arguments, the speaker takes pity on Death and considers it weak. He confronts Death directly that Death cannot kill the speaker. He then composes the poem and conveys the message as a challenge.
The speaker calls rest and sleep the other pictures of Death. He says that people feel pleasant after rest and sleep. Therefore, they must feel good after death as well by taking it as a short resting phase. Death only keeps the physical bodies of people in rest and carries their souls to the afterlife. Death is a resting phase between the temporary life on earth and the timeless and limitless afterworld.
To describe Death’s powerlessness more, the speaker calls Death a slave to earthly kings. Death is linked with fate, chances, kings, poison, wars, and sickness. It relies on worldly things for its existence. It needs partners because it cannot cease the lives of people alone. Death is not a master, but a slave. Death is even inferior to poppy and other charms.
Although Death is terrible and omnipotent, it will still face its death. The inflated idea of its high and frightening stature is nothing but a misconception. Whichever way it is looked at, Death is inferior to everything. The speaker asks Death that after knowing all this, why and what it is proud of? Death is not something to be scared of. It has only one function of carrying souls to the place where they meant to be.
Eternal Life
Another theme of this poem is eternal life and its limitlessness. This theme becomes obvious in the last line of the poem. The speaker says that we will wake up from sleep in eternal life and there will be no death there. This poem confirms the existence of the afterlife which is eternal.
Also, death does not mean the end. It is a path to enter into a new life. Death is a rebirth. By deconstructing the dreadful idea of Death, John Donne rebels against Death and gives a new meaning to the traditional understanding of death. Death is a gift for us from God to give us immortal life in heaven. After death, entrance to eternal life is freedom of souls. Therefore, death is a transitory stage to enter into an everlasting life with the promised lands of God where all shall rest in peace.
Appearance vs. Reality
Death seems mighty and powerful, but it is not. Death brings stillness which 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.
Courage
Another theme of this poem is courage. The speaker speaks with courage throughout the poem. He overcomes the fear of Death. He makes confident statements and challenges Death. It gives the lesson of facing adversity with grace and courage. It does not mean that through courage, one can avoid Death. It means that through courage, Death can never take control of one’s life. Encountering difficult times transforms people into something higher and meaningful.
Death Be Not Proud Literary Analysis
“Death, be not Proud” is Holy Sonnet X, and one of the best sonnets of John Donne. The title of the poem has come from the first line of the poem. This poem reflects the personal Christian beliefs of John Donne by referring to Bible First Corinthians, where Paul states that “the final enemy to be destroyed is death.” In this poem, Death is personified and the speaker starts an argument with it in a confident manner.
The speaker says that Death is not as powerful and fearsome as we are forced to think. Death gives freedom to our soul and carries it to the eternal world. Death is a short sleeping phase before souls are carried to the place they truly belong to. On the Day of Judgment, Death itself will die. For this reason, there is no point in fearing Death. Also, Death should not be so proud of itself because it is nothing in reality.
The way the speaker confronts Death shows that he is not afraid of it. The speaker believes that Death should not be so sure of itself because it is a slave. Death always needs a partner to do the job on its behalf. The bold conversation of the speaker with Death provides a sense of comfort to readers.
Lines 1-2
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
The speaker creates a personified version of Death and starts a direct conversation. He presents a strong image of Death and tells it to not be pleased with itself. It tells Death that although people call it powerful and are afraid of it, it is not like this in real life. The speaker acquires a tone of complete superiority over Death. By saying “thou art not so”, the speaker uses “apostrophe” by calling a subject who cannot respond at the moment. By using this apostrophe, readers know that there will be only one speaker throughout the poem who will define the characters of others. Death, though personified, cannot respond to the accusations made by the speaker to defend itself.
Lines 3-4
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
The speaker tells Death its reality. Death considers itself grandeur because it thinks it has the power of taking people’s life away. The speaker says that it is not the truth because Death has no such power. He further degrades Death by calling it “poor Death.” He makes fun of Death for living under the misconception of its powers for so long. Next, the speaker challenges Death by saying that it cannot kill the speaker. He is not afraid of threatening Death because Death is powerless. Here, the speaker speaks with confidence. The speaker uses Christian belief in eternity to taunt Death. It means that if Death takes the physical body, it can still not kill the soul.
Lines 5-6
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasures; then from thee much more must flow,
In these lines, the speaker compares Death to “rest and sleep.” He uses the word “pleasure” to describe how one should feel when Death arrives. People get relieved after a good sleep, so Death should have the same effects. The speaker states that Death is a short sleeping phase; therefore, one must enjoy Death as asleep. Death must be as pleasurable as rest and sleep.
Lines 7-8
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Here, the speaker states that the best men will experience Death soon. Before questioning the speaker why do best men die soon, he provides an immediate answer himself. Best men deserve Death sooner to get a peaceful eternal life without bearing the hardships of the earthly world. Death is described here as “rest of bones” and a means of “soul’s delivery” to the next world. For this reason, Death must be welcomed because it brings peace and comfort.
Lines 9-10
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell
The speaker adopts a stronger tone here and humiliates Death more than he did before. He says that Death is inferior to luck and fate. It is also a poor submissive slave who is driven by rich people and rulers. Death has linked poison, war, and illness to itself. It cannot work alone. It always depends on other things to perform its job of killing. Its companions are lower beings. This revelation of truth regarding Death gives readers a sense of victory. The speaker himself feels superior to Death and he passes on these feelings to readers also.
Lines 11-12
And poppy and charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’ st thou then?
The speaker talks to Death even more boldly. He says that poppy and charms also bring rest. This comparison makes Death not only weak but enjoyable as well. After showing Death its real face, the speaker asks Death why it is still so full of pride.
Lines 13-14
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shall die
In these last lines, the speaker finally reveals why he is constantly humiliating Death. Those people who die never come back to earth. It does not mean that Death is mighty. Death is still powerless because it is one short sleep. Dead people will wake up in an eternal world. There will be no more Death. The Day of Judgment will announce the death of Death. The speaker reminds Death that it is not only weak, but it will face an end of itself as well.
Style
“Death, be not Proud” is a Petrarchan sonnet in the rhyming scheme. It is written in iambic pentameter. The thematic organization of this sonnet has two well-developed movements in the (eight-line) octave and (six-line) sestet. Its structure resembles Shakespearean sonnet, also called English sonnet, with four short movements. In this way, it has three quatrains and an ending couplet.
The octave follows the traditional Petrarchan rhyme of abbaabba. The rhyming scheme of the sestet is cddcee. The octave can be divided into two separate quatrains. The first quatrain treats Death as less powerful than people think. The second quatrain argues that Death is not horrible but it is as pleasurable as sleep. The sestet can also be divided into one quatrain and a concluding couplet. The quatrain of the sestet continues to belittle Death, while the couplet announces the end of the Death.
Symbols
Sleep
In his argument against the power of Death, the speaker constantly refers to sleep and rest. He compares Death to sleep and rest. Sleep is the symbol of Death itself. When people are asleep, they are unconscious and have lost their interaction with the world and other people. While asleep, people seem like they are dead. For this reason, sleep is a relief for the mind and body that everybody needs.
The speaker uses the symbol of sleep for two main reasons. Firstly, if Death is like sleep, people should not be afraid of it anymore. In this way, people must look forward to Death without getting frightened of it. Secondly, sleep is not permanent; therefore, Death is also not the end of life. It is nothing more than a transitory stage from a temporary earthy world to the permanent afterworld. Sleep is the symbol of the harmlessness of Death.
Bones
The speaker considers Death a rest for bones. The bones represent the physical shape of the body. It also shows that these bones are meant to decay because humans are mortal. The whole poem teaches the division between body and soul. The bones represent the body which does not last for long. On the opposite side, the soul lives forever. People leave their bones behind before going to the eternal world.
Slavery
The speaker degrades the fearsome image of Death in all ways. He says that Death is a slave to fate, chances, kings, and desperate men. The slavery symbolizes the powerlessness and fake pride of Death. Death always needs a partner to implicate death. It is always dependent on toxins, battles, and illness to kill someone.
Literary Devices
Personification
Personification means to attribute human qualities to nonhuman things. John Donne has presented a personified picture of Death throughout the poem. It tells Death not to be proud and pride is a human quality.
Metaphor
A metaphor is the comparison of two different things that have something in common. In the opening line, the speaker says, “Death, be not proud.” Here, Death is compared to an arrogant man. Secondly, metaphor is used in the ninth line where the speaker says, “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men.” Here, the speaker says that Death is not independent but it is a slave to fate, chance, kings, and hopeless men. Fate controls everything that happens in one’s life, including death. Additionally, chance controls events by making them occur for no known reason. Kings also send people to wars or order their execution. Hopeless people take risks and commit suicide which ends in their death.
Alliteration
It is the repetition of the same consonant sound in the same line such as the sound of /th/ in “And better than thy stroke” and “why swell’st thou the.” The sound of /m/ is also repeated in “then from thee much more must flow.” In this way, /th/ sound is repeated in the first, third, sixth, and twelfth lines. Also, /d/ and /k/ sound is repeated in the fourth line and /w/ sound is repeated in the thirteenth line.
Apostrophe
This poem is an argument with Death. The speaker has used an apostrophe to address Death throughout the poem. The first word of the first line used an apostrophe to set the context for the rest of the poem. The word “Death” makes it clear to whom the poem is addressed. In the same way, the speaker stops arguing with the same apostrophe in the last line. First, fourth, and fourteenth line turns death into its personified version.
Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of words at the start of successive clauses, phrases, and sentences. In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth line, the word “And” is repeated.
Assonance
It is the repetition of the same vowel words in the same line of a poem. For example, the sound of /a/ is repeated in “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate man.” Also, the sound of /e/ is repeated in “And soonest our best men with thee do go.”
Metonymy
It is the representation of a thing by something closely related to it. In this poem, the words “poppy and charms” describe sleep and rest.
Allusion
This poem reflects the basic teachings of Christianity and its belief in the eternal world. In different versions of the Bible, the phrase “And Death shall be no more” is written as “and there shall be nor more death.”
Aphorism
In the seventh line, the speaker says, “our best men with thee do go.” It refers to the general truth of the sixteenth century that “only the good die young.”
Speaker of the Poem
The speaker of this poem is anonymous. Most critics think that it is the voice of Donne’s personal experiences. As the speaker is arguing and defeating Death, it represents the whole of humanity. The speaker presents himself as the defender of humanity as well.
Setting of the Poem
The setting of the poem is not specific. There are some clues in the poem that link it to seventeenth-century Europe. The speaker says that Death is a slave to kings. It shows the role of monarchs in that era. War was common at that time. Also, the religious disturbance in Europe was associated with monarchies. The word “poppy” also represents the popular drug “opium” in seventeenth-century England.
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.