Death, Be Not Proud (Brief and Simple Analysis)

Death, be
not
proud
By: John donne
(poetry analysis)
Background of the Author
 John Donne, leading English poet of the Metaphysical school, is often

considered the greatest loved poet in the English language.
 He was born into a Catholic family in 1572, during a strong anti-Catholic
period in England. Donne’s father, also named John, was a prosperous
London merchant. His mother, Elizabeth Heywood, was the grand-niece of
Catholic martyr Thomas More. Religion would play a tumultuous and
passionate role in John’s life.
 Donne’s father died in 1576, and his mother remarried a wealthy widower.
He entered Oxford University at age 11 and later the University of
Cambridge, but never received degrees, due to his Catholicism. At age
20, Donne began studying law at Lincoln’s Inn and seemed destined for a
legal or diplomatic career. During the 1590s, he spent much of his
inheritance on women, books and travel. He wrote most of his love lyrics
and erotic poems during this time. His first books of poems, “Satires” and
“Songs and Sonnets,” were highly prized among a small group of
admirers.
 In 1593, John Donne’s brother, Henry, was convicted of Catholic
sympathies and died in prison soon after. The incident led John to
question his Catholic faith and inspired some of his best writing on
religion. At age 25, Donne was appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas
Egerton, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. He held his position
with Egerton for several years and it's likely that around this period Donne
converted to Anglicanism.
 On his way to a promising career, John Donne became a Member of
Parliament in 1601. That same year, he married 16-year-old Anne More,
the niece of Sir Egerton. Both Lord Egerton and Anne’s father, George
More, strongly disapproved of the marriage, and, as punishment, More did
not provide a dowry. Lord Egerton fired Donne and had him imprisoned for
a short time. The eight years following Donne’s release would be a
struggle for the married couple until Anne’s father finally paid her dowry.
 In 1610, John Donne published his anti-Catholic polemic “Pseudo-Martyr,”
renouncing his faith. In it, he proposed the argument that Roman Catholics
could support James I without compromising their religious loyalty to the
pope. This won him the king’s favor and patronage from members of the
House of Lords. In 1615, Donne was ordained soon thereafter was
appointed Royal Chaplain. His elaborate metaphors, religious symbolism
and flair for drama soon established him as a great preacher.
 In 1617, John Donne’s wife died shortly after giving birth to their 12th
child. The time for writing love poems was over, and Donne devoted his
energies to more religious subjects. In 1621, Donne became dean of St.
Paul’s Cathedral. During a period of severe illness, he wrote “Devotions
upon Emergent Occasions,” published in 1624. This work contains the
immortal lines “No man is an island” and “never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” That same year, Donne was appointed Vicar
of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West and became known for his eloquent sermons.
 As John Donne’s health continued to fail him, he became obsessed with
death. Shortly before he died, he delivered a pre-funeral sermon, “Death’s
Duel.” His writing was charismatic and inventive. His compelling
examination of the mortal paradox influenced English poets for
generations. Donne’s work fell out of favor for a time, but was revived in
the 20th century by high-profile admirers such as T.S. Eliot and William
Butler Yeats.
Literary Analysis
“Death, be not Proud”, also known as Holy Sonnet X, was written by John
Donne in 1633. John Donne was a famous metaphysical poet. The popularity of
this poem lies in its unique subject, as it was a devotional as well as a warning to
‘personified’ death. Using the metaphor of death, the poet argues that death is
not permanent and it serves as an eternal pathway to life hereafter. He also has
demonstrated the Christian doctrine of resurrection and immortality of the soul,
calling death as an inferior
Donne has presented death as a powerless figure. He denies the authority of
death with logical reasoning, saying the death does not kill people. Instead, it
liberates their souls and directs them to eternal life. He does not consider it
man’s invincible conqueror. Instead, he calls it a poor fellow without having free
will. The arrival of death is also compared with a short rest and sleep that
recuperates a person for the upcoming journey. The poet’s denial to the
conventional approach of death gives the reader a new interpretation.
The major theme in the poem is powerlessness of death. The poem comprises
the poet’s emotions, mocking the position of death and arguing that death is
unworthy of fear or awe. According to him, death gives birth to our souls.
Therefore, it should not consider itself mighty, or superior as ‘death’ is not
invincible. The poet also considers death an immense pleasure similar to sleep
and rest. For him, the drugs can also provide the same experience. The poem
foreshadows the realistic presentation of the death and also firmly believes in
eternal life after death.
Literary Devices
 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
 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
unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, as it is stated, “from rest,”
“and ” However, the meter fluctuates, as the poem progresses.

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What is the poem 'Death, be not proud' about?

What literary devices does Donne use in the poem?

Death, be

 John Donne, leading English poet of the Metaphysical school, is often

 Personification: Personification means to attribute human features to non-

 Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in which the same idea runs

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