Death Be Not Proud (2) - Jonne Donne (General English - Semester 1)

Death, be not proud

Lines 1-2

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;

• He’s "proud," arrogant, and thinks he can boss people around.

• When he walks down the street, people avert their eyes and leap into alleyways to escape him.

• Everybody treats him like a king – of the Underworld. They think that he has the power ("might") to do terrible ("dreadful") things.

• But, the speaker isn’t afraid.

• He walks right up to Death and gives him a piece of his mind,

• It’s downright gutsy for the speaker to be telling this guy – who frightens everyone – what to do.

• The speaker orders Death not to be proud, and then says that people are mistaken in treating Death as some fearsome being.

Lines 3-4

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

• Death thinks that he has the power to kill people, but he actually doesn’t.

• Donne uses the word "overthrow" instead of "kill" in line 3 – an interesting choice, because people usually use the word in the context of "overthrowing" a ruler and taking control of his territory.

• Notice how there’s a nice dramatic pause created by the line break between "overthrow" and "die," as if the speaker lets Death savour the idea of killing people just before pulling the rug out from under him.

• To make things more humiliating, the speaker starts to show his pity by addressing "poor Death," as if Death just had his dreams crushed, and now needs some cheering up.

• Donne uses the idea of Christian eternity to argue that death is something that people pass through on their way to a new, eternal life.

• A good Christian must experience death – the end of life on earth – but, in the long run, he or she can’t be "killed."

Lines 5-6

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

• He compares death to "rest" and "sleep," two things that give us "pleasure."

• Therefore, death should give us pleasure, too, when we finally meet it.

• He claims that rest and sleep are only "pictures" of death.

• The difference these two things and death is like the difference between a painting of an object and the real thing.

• They are watered-down versions of death, so if they give us some pleasure, then death will give "much more."

• The pleasure of death will "flow’ like water or honey.

• The comparison of death to sleep or eternal rest is a classic metaphor in Christian writings – one that goes back a long time.

• The philosopher St. Augustine, for example, writes that he won’t know what rest is really like, until he rests with God in Heaven.

• It is a way for people to talk themselves out of their fear of dying – compare it to an experience that they enjoy.

Lines 7-8

And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

• The "best men […] soonest" follow Death into the afterlife, thinking that he will give the "rest of their bones," and free or "deliver" their Christian souls from all the pain of earthly life.

• (Note that "deliver" can also refer to childbirth, which adds to the whole "new life" idea.)

• They are the hardest-working and bravest people in society, so they get to kick their feet back and enjoy eternal rest before everyone else.

• The speaker almost certainly refers to people like soldiers and martyrs, who sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

• After all, not that many soldiers are really thrilled to go off to war, and few people go to war intending to die – otherwise they wouldn’t be very good soldiers.

• Donne makes it sound like the best men volunteer for death, when, in most cases, they only volunteer to risk death in order to achieve something else.

Lines 9-10

Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

• The speaker raises his intensity in these lines, and becomes more hostile towards Death, calling him names and taunting him as a slave.

• With the metaphor of the slave, the speaker suggests that Death doesn’t act on his own free will, and instead is controlled or manipulated by other things like "fate, chance, kings, and desperate men."

• Let’s take these one by one.

• Like Death, Fate is often treated as a person in literature.

• Fate is thought to control everything that happens to people, including when they will die.

• So, Death doesn’t decide when people will die; he just carries out orders from Fate.

• "Chance" is kind of the opposite of fate

• "Chance" is luck, the idea that things can happen for no particular rhyme or reason.

• "Kings" are different from fate and chance because they are real people, but they have a similar kind of control over when and how people die.

• A king can send soldiers to die in battle or sentence people to execution.

• "Desperate men," we think, refers to people who commit suicide or do stupid and reckless stuff, which might as well be suicide.

• If you decide to take your own life, it pretty much robs Death of the only card he has to play.

• In line 10, the speaker brings another accusation against Death, claiming that he hangs out, or "dwells," with those notorious thugs, "poison, war, and sickness."

• It might be obvious by now, but we’ll repeat it anyway: Donne treats these three things like people.

Lines 11-12

And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

• In lines 5-6, the speaker argues that death will be just like sleep, except even better.

• This seems to conflict with the idea that Death is supposed to be way more pleasurable than sleep.

• The speaker’s on a roll, and doesn’t have time to think about whether his arguments make perfect sense.

• When you’re trying to insult someone, it’s more important to be clever and think on your feet.

• The "poppy" is a flower used to make opium, an old-fashioned drug that makes people really happy, but also turns their skin yellow.

• In fact, drugs and magic charms work even "better" than Death at bringing on sleep.

• And, "stroke" is another interesting word.

• It could refer to "stroking" someone, like one might stroke a child’s head to put him to sleep.

• Or, it could refer to the "stroke" of a sword, which is obviously much more violent.

• Or, it could imply the "stroke" of a clock at the exact moment of death.

• Totally demolishing Death’s claim to be the ultimate sleep aid, the speaker puts Death in his place, telling him not to "swell" with pride.

Lines 13-14

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

• Donne, and the Metaphysical Poets in general, are masters of the surprise ending, and this one is no exception.

• First, he returns to the idea of death as "sleep," which gets a bit more complicated here because he gives a time-frame: it’s a "short sleep."

• In traditional Christian theology, it is thought that, when people died, it is like they are asleep until the end of the world or Judgment Day.

• At this point, Jesus wakes everyone up to lead them to Heaven, where they will spend eternity.

• Therefore, when the Apocalypse happens and the world ends, there isn’t any more death. All good Christians will have eternal life in Heaven.

• The poem’s final words seal the deal: "Death, thou shalt die.

• Assuming Death does not kill himself, who’s going to kill him other than, um, Death?

• Clearly, the final "die" just means that he won’t exist anymore.

• It’s a classic Metaphysical Poet move to end a poem on a line that seems to contradict itself.