Death Be Not Proud by John Donne | Holy Sonnet 10 Summary, Analysis, Explanation

 Death Be Not Proud by John Donne | Holy Sonnet 10 Summary, Analysis, Explanation

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Death Be Not Proud is a metaphysical poem by John Donne that has been written in the structure of a sonnet. It has 14 lines with a rhythm scheme of ABBA ABBA CDDC AA. The poem was first published (posthumously) in 1633 after John Donne’s demise. This sonnet has religious connotations and it has been included in Donne’s Holy Sonnets or Divine Meditations. Holy Sonnet is a collection of religious sonnets that were written by John Donne. There are 19 such sonnets and Death Be Not Proud is sonnet number 10.

Death be Not Proud has 4 stanzas, the first three stanzas have four lines each while the last stanza is a doublet with two lines.

Sonnets are often written in praise of a loved one. But this is a holy sonnet that is inspired by Christian theology.

Summary

John Donne personified Death in this poem to offer his philosophy of life and death. In the beginning, the poet warns the death and commands ‘him’ not to feel pride in his powers. The poet suggests that while the death thinks that he has eliminated his victims, the fact is that the death just offered those tired souls some relief to rest.

In the first stanza, the poet criticizes death and warns him against feeling pride in his powers. The poet suggests that death is not in command rather he is a slave to other forces like chance, fate, kings, and desperate men. Desperate men are those who being cowardly, take their own lives to run away from worldly sufferings and responsibilities.

The second stanza is in contrast with the first as the poet praises death for its good qualities. The poet suggests that death doesn’t eliminate, but he offers rest and relief to its victims who are tired of life. Death offers a sound sleeping bed. In the third stanza, the poet again condemns death and suggests that even drugs like charms and poppy can offer the desired relief.

In the last stanza, the poet further condemns death while predicting the end of death itself by stating, ‘Death, thou shalt die.”

John Donne wrote this poem when he was suffering from Typhoid and the dangers of death. He contemplated and penned his thoughts in the form of this poem whose first line resembles the opening of another contemporary poem “Death be not proud, thy hand gave not this blow” which was written by Lucy Harrington Russel, Countess of Bedford. Lucy was a patron of John Donne.

Line by Line Explanation

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

Line 1-2

The poem starts with the bold and commanding stance of the poet. Donne personifies the death and addresses it as a man. The poet commands death not to feel proud as while many people consider death as dreadful, strong, and mighty,

When a poet addresses a person or thing who is not present or cannot respond, then it is known as ‘apostrophe’. John Donne offered one of the finest examples of Apostrophe in this sonnet. He personifies the death itself as a guy in a black hood with a sickle in his hand.

John Donne wrote this poem in such a manner that it appears as a direct confrontation between the Death personified and the poet. The readers are just eavesdropping on this interesting conversation.

Line 3-4

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

The poet confronts Death and tells Him that though Death considers Himself mighty with the power to kill people, this is false. He further humiliates Death and shows pity by addressing Him as ‘poor Death.’ Donne used the term ‘overthrow’ for killing. What he means is that Death feels that He revolted against the king Life and took Life’s empire. However, Donne says that the victims of Death don’t actually die, nor Death can kill the poet. The first stanza ends here.

Line 5-6

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

In the second stanza, the poet explains how Death is being fooled. John Donne introduces the philosophy and specifically the idea of Christian eternity which suggests that while Death thinks that He killed people, but it is just a way through which people pass through to a new eternal life. The poet says that while Death thinks that it killed people, He only induces rest and sleep for His victims who ultimately attain the new eternal life. It resembles the Hindu philosophy of the Eternal soul. Death is just a process through which a soul changes its cloth (body). The poet further ridicules Death by claiming that while He thinks he is causing suffering to His victims, He only brings, rest, sleep, comfort, and pleasure. The poet says that rest and sleep are the pictures of Death. Since both rest and sleep bring comfort, pleasure, and rejuvenation to a tired body, the poet says that Death only brings pleasure to a person when Death meets him.

Comparing Death with sleep or eternal rest is a classical Christian metaphor that has been used many times. For example, Saint Augustine wrote that he won’t know what rest is really like until he rests with God in Heaven. As a matter of fact, the poem is convincing the readers that they should not be afraid of death. Let us suppose a person is afraid of trying sky-diving, so his friends may suggest to him that there is nothing to worry about as sky-diving is just similar to a super-fun rollercoaster ride. In the same manner, the poet is suggesting that Death is nothing but sleep and eternal rest that brings ultimate pleasure.

Line 7-8

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

The poet says that the best men or the most cherished persons follow Death as they need to rest their bones and free their souls from worldly pain and sufferings. Donne used the word ‘delivery’ to express freedom as it offers the idea of rebirth or new life after death. Thus he brings upon the idea of Christian Afterlife here.

These lines can be understood by considering the situation of Army men. Only a few people chose to be a soldier as they are ready to go to war and die. Donne declares that the best men volunteer themselves to meet the Death as they know they will be having greater pleasure in the Afterlife. This may remind you of the idea of Jehad or Crusades.

Line 9-10

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

In Petrarchan sonnets, poets often offer a sharp U-turn from the tone of previous stanzas, and here too, the poet changes his tone. In the second stanza, the poet was actually praising death, suggesting that He offer pleasure, rest, and peace for the best men. The poet begins attacking Death again in the third stanza and calls Him a slave.

The third stanza begins with the explanation of the real position of Mr. Death in the poet’s eyes. The poet says to Death that He is not in a commanding position, rather, he is just a minion, a slave to other forces. The poet names those forces as Fate, Chance, kings, and Desperate Men. What the poet means is that Death cannot decide whom to offer death (or rest and sleep in eyes of the poet) as this is decided by the fate of a person, or a person dies by chance.

Fate and Chance are exactly opposing concepts. Fate means determinism, nobody can escape fate. However, Chance is totally indeterministic. Chance means luck, the idea that things or events can happen out of turn or for no particular reason.

Another force that the poet mentions are the Kings who rule death sentences. The fourth force mentioned is ‘Desperate Men’, people willing to end themselves. They can be failure men with suicidal tendencies, or highly spiritual men ready to give up their bodies to meet God in the afterlife. Donne suggests that such desperate suicidal men are losers. In the 10^th line, he further castigates Death and claims that Death has foolish friends who indulge in drugs, poison, war, and sickness. Again, Donne personified Poison, War, and Sickness as friends of Mr. Death. The common thing in poison, war, and sickness or pandemic is that all these three things kill many people and thus accompany Death.

Line 11-12

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

John Donne compared death with rest and sleep in lines 5-6 and suggested that Death is even better than sleep as it offers the pleasure of Afterlife. Here, the poet takes a U-turn and says that Death is not at all required. The poet suggests that one doesn’t need to die to attain rest and sound sleep for their body and soul. He may simply use poppy (opium) or magic charms (drugs) to have a sound sleep.

In lines 5-6, the poet was actually praising Death as it offers pleasurable Afterlife. But here, the poet is engaged in insulting Death. The poet is willing to disregard the happiness of Afterlife as sound sleep can also be attained through opium and poppy makes people feel ecstasy or extreme happiness too. The poet suggests that poppy or magic charms can offer more happiness and better sleep than Death. The poet uses the word ‘stroke’ which can either be a gentle stroke like that of patting some child’s head in praise and affection, or it can be a brutal violent stroke of a sword, like that of a stroke by a soldier against an enemy soldier. The poet then questions Death why it feels so proud and swells in pride when it is clear that poppy and magic charms can do a much better job? The third stanza ends with this rhetorical question.

Line 13-14

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

In the last stanza, that is, in lines 13-14, the poet again brings upon the Christian idea of death. According to Christian theology, death is just like a long slumber. When a person dies, he enters in deep sleep, and just before the end of the world, that is on Judgement Day, Christians believe that Christ will wake up all and will take all good souls to Heaven where they all will enjoy eternal life. In a way, the poet accepts Death and suggests that it is nothing but a deep slumber that will appear very short when he will be raised by Jesus at the end of the world. When Apocalypse happens, Jesus takes all good souls to Heaven to enjoy eternal life and hence, there isn’t any more death in Heaven. Thus, the poet offers his final verdict, ‘Death thou shalt die.’

This is it for today. We will discuss another important work by John Donne in the next video. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and regards.