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Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud

POEM TEXT THEMES

1 Death, be not proud, though some have called thee THE POWERLESSNESS OF DEATH
2 Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; In this sonnet
sonnet, often referred to by its first line or as
3 For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow “Holy Sonnet 10,” the speaker argues that death
4 Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. doesn't have the final say over human beings. Personifying
5 From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, "Death" as a vain, prideful figure, the speaker tries to deflate
death's arrogance by declaring that death is really nothing
6 Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
more than a rest. Following this rest comes the afterlife, which
7 And soonest our best men with thee do go,
represents humanity's ultimate triumph over death.
8 Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Death, in the poem, is a boastful figure that proudly trades on
9 Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate
its reputation as “mighty and dreadful.” Yet the speaker sees
men,
death as petty and weak and confronts it directly, insisting that
10 And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
death can’t “kill” him—or anyone, for that matter.
11 And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
That’s because death isn’t the frightening end that people think
12 And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
it is. Really, the speaker argues, death is just like a more intense
13 One short sleep past, we wake eternally version of “sleep.” People generally feel good after getting some
14 And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. rest, the speaker reasons, so it follows that they’ll feel even
more “pleasure” after dying. Death is simply a welcome
reprieve for people's “bones,” their physical selves, while their
souls move on to the afterlife.
SUMMARY
The speaker deflates death’s ego further by calling it a “slave” to
The speaker directly addresses a personified death, telling it earthly things. Death, in the speaker’s estimation, isn’t the
not to be arrogant just because some people find death scary master of anything; it’s beholden to “fate, chance, kings, and
and intimidating. In fact, death is neither of these things desperate men” and hangs out with lowly, despicable things like
because people don’t really die when death—whom the speaker “poison, war, and sickness.” Even as a form of rest, the speaker
pities—comes to them; nor will the speaker truly die when continues, death isn’t all that impressive: “poppy” (opiate drugs)
death arrives for him. and “charms” (magic and spells) are far better sleep aids!
Comparing death to rest and sleep—which are like images of As such, death has no reason to puff out its chest (to “swell”
death—the speaker anticipates death to be even more with pride). As nothing more than a restful passage between
pleasurable than these activities. Furthermore, it’s often the life on earth and in heaven, death is nothing to be afraid of. In
best people who go with death—which represents nothing fact, the speaker dramatically concludes, the only thing that
more than the resting of the body and the arrival of the soul in “die[s]” in the end is death itself: in waking “eternally” in heaven,
the afterlife. people overcome death’s supposed finality.
Death is fully controlled by fate and luck, and often
administered by rulers or people acting desperately. The Where this theme appears in the poem:
speaker points out that death is also associated with poison, • Lines 1-14
war, and illness. Drugs and magic spells are more effective than
death when it comes to rest. With all this in mind, what possible
reason could death have for being so puffed up with pride?
LINE-BY
LINE-BY-LINE
-LINE ANAL
ANALYSIS
YSIS
Death is nothing but a mere sleep in between people’s earthly
lives and the eternal afterlife, in which death can visit them no LINES 1-4
more. It is instead death—or a certain idea of death as
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
something to be scared of—that is going to die.
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

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As with many of Donne's poems, "Death, be not proud" starts LINES 9-10
boldly. The speaker addresses "Death" itself, an example of Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
apostrophe
apostrophe. And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
The speaker personifies death as a figure with an inflated sense The third quatr
quatrain
ain further demonstrates death's weakness,
of self-importance that trades on its reputation as something robbing death of its fearsome and intimidating qualities.
fearsome and final. Yet "thou art not so," the speaker continues:
death is neither "mighty" nor "dreadful," and the speaker will Though death is often thought of as something powerful, line 9
spend the rest of the poem explaining why. argues that it is actually weak, easily dominated by other
elements or people. It's a "slave" to fate and chance, beholden
For one thing, death wrongly thinks that it can "overthrow" to "kings" and "desperate men." Both of these are, of course,
life—that is, "kill" people, even though nobody ever really dies. human beings—precisely the target of death's work!
The speaker even pities death, calling it "poor Death," for its
foolish belief that it can end human existence. Kings have authority over their subjects, the power to declare
who lives and who dies. The "desperate men" can be read as
The enjambment between lines 3 and 4 adds urgency to the referring to people who commit murder or to those who take
speaker's argument: their own lives out of desperation. Either way, the poem implies
that death isn't the one making the decisions here; it's a
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow consequence of human actions or random bad luck.
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
The speaker then accuses death of hanging out with "poison,
war and sickness." The speaker presents these as ugly and
That "overthrow" is immediately undermined, as the poem
undesirable things to be associated with. Essentially, death has
doesn't grant any space for a pause. This, in turn, reflects the
nothing better to do than hang out with the worst elements of
speaker's belief that death isn't any sort of final end.
human life.
LINES 5-8
LINES 11-12
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Lines 11 and 12 return to the speaker's comparison of death
with sleep. Once again, the argument seeks to deny death any
While the first quatr
quatrain
ain established the poem's main
authority. Both lines begin with the word "And," creating
point—that death shouldn't be proud because it isn't mighty or
anaphor
anaphoraa. This creates a sense of building momentum and
dreadful—the next few lines deal specifically with the evidence
power, the speaker's argument growing more enthusiastic.
that supports this claim.
Death might be like "rest and sleep," but now the speaker says
The speaker compares death to rest and sleep, which are
that it's actually not the best sleep aid around. "Poppy," which is
"pictures," or imitations/reflections, of death. Rest and sleep
a reference to the kind of opiate drugs that were popular in
are entirely harmless activities. In fact, they're restorative.
Donne's day, is more effective. Ditto "charms," which refers to
Accordingly, the speaker equates them with pleasure; rest and
magic spells and incantations.
sleep make people feel good. If death is just a heightened
version of rest and sleep, then death must be even more These things make "us sleep" too, and, in fact, they do it "better
pleasurable. than thy stroke." The word "stroke" functions in two slightly
paradoxical ways. First of all, it acknowledges the idea of death
Lines 7 and 8 then suggest that it is the best people on earth
as a powerful figure: death is often personified as being able to
who often die earliest, perhaps hinting that they have been
administer death to the living without any difficulty. But a
chosen by God for their reward of eternal life in heaven.
stroke is also a gentle motion, even an act of affection. The
Indeed, their "bones" get to "rest" when they die, while their
word makes death seem meek and mild.
"soul[s]" are "deliver[ed]" to the afterlife.
In light of all the evidence that has been presented, the speaker
People's bodies are what die; bones are the inanimate leftovers
asks how can death still "swell" up with pride. It has nothing to
of life on earth, the speaker says, but life on earth is not what's
boast about.
important to this poem. It is the "soul's delivery"—the arrival in
the afterlife—that matters. Death is really a form of transition Lines 13 and 14 then bring the poem to its conclusion. Death is
from temporary, earthly life to eternal, heavenly life. The poem nothing but a "short sleep," a transition from earthly
plays on this idea with the word "delivery," which hints at a kind living—with all its miseries and pains—to the heavenly afterlife.
of rebirth. When people "wake eternally," they will be out of death's reach.
Death, as a concept, will be as good as dead to them. Death

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itself "shalt die": be defeated for good.
This doesn't mean that death doesn't exist; death remains a • Lines 9-12
constant presence in the world. But death, viewed in the bright • Line 14
light of Donne's Christian faith, is ultimately impermanent and
nothing to be afraid of. ALLITERATION
Alliter
Alliteration
ation makes the speaker's argument sound more urgent
and emphatic. For example, the sharp /k/ sounds of line 4 in
SYMBOLS "ccanst" and "kkill" add a biting sharpness to the speaker's
declaration that death has no real power over him. The plosive
SLEEP /b/ and /p/ sounds of lines 5-6 work similarly, as though the
speaker is spitting out words in pity and disgust:
As part of the argument against the power of death,
the speaker repeatedly refers to sleep and rest.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
These activities symbolize the impermanent, even restorative
Much pleasure; [...]
nature of death.
When someone is asleep they are unconscious and thereby The triple alliteration of "m
much more must" in line 6 conveys a
separated from their interactions with the world and other sense of abundance, reflecting the speaker's argument that
people (just as they will be in death). But sleep is also a kind of death must be even more pleasurable than "rest and sleep."
restorative retreat—good for the mind and body—that
Finally, the thudding /d/ sounds that appear throughout the
everybody needs. It follows that if death is a kind of sleep, it is
poem add weighty, booming intensity to the speaker's verse
nothing to be feared; sleep is a good thing. In fact, if death is a
(note that some of these sounds as the result of the polyptoton
kind of “super-sleep” it is even something to be looked forward
of "d
die" and "ddeath").
to.
Where Alliter
Alliteration
ation appears in the poem:
Where this symbol appears in the poem:
• Line 4: “Die,” “Death,” “canst,” “kill”
• Line 5: “rest and sleep”
• Line 5: “but,” “pictures,” “be”
• Line 8: “Rest”
• Line 6: “pleasure,” “much more must”
• Line 11: “sleep”
• Line 9: “desperate”
• Line 13: “sleep,” “wake”
• Line 10: “dost”
• Line 12: “thou then”
• Line 13: “we wake”
POETIC DEVICES • Line 14: “Death,” “die”

APOSTROPHE ANAPHORA
This poem is not just an argument against death but an Five out of the poem’s 14 lines begin in the same way: with an
argument with death. To make this argument work, the speaker “and.” This use of anaphor
anaphoraa builds the momentum of the
uses apostrophe throughout the entire poem, directly speaker’s argument, adding reason upon reason why death
addressing death as if it were a person. Essentially, the speaker shouldn’t be feared. Essentially, this technique is about creating
is trying to deflate the sense of death’s power by tackling it a cumulative effect that makes its logic seem undeniable and
head-on. The speaker isn't afraid to confront, and, indeed, ultimately results in the question directed at death: “why
antagonize, death. swell’st thou then?” The build-up of “ands” works to make it
Apostrophe is also closely linked with personification
personification. The seem absurd that death would even consider “swelling” with
speaker personifies death as a prideful, misguided individual pride at its place in the world.
who has got the completely wrong idea about their role in the It’s no coincidence that the last line modifies the beginning of
lives of humankind. Personification and apostrophe create a the first by using anaphora. Death is strongly announced as the
clear enemy in the poem, a distinct figure against which the subject at the start of the poem, but by the end is dominated by
speaker can level his arguments. “and,” which has come to represent the numerous reasons why
death is powerless in view of the afterlife to come.
Where Apostrophe appears in the poem:
• Lines 1-7 Where Anaphor
Anaphoraa appears in the poem:

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prideful—a human characteristic—in line 1 and even a figure of
• Line 7: “And” sympathy in line 4: "poor Death." That is, death has such a
• Line 10: “And” misguided view of itself that it deserves to be pitied.
• Line 11: “And” This adds drama to the poem as the speaker has a direct enemy
• Line 12: “And” to fight against. Personification also simply makes the speaker's
• Line 14: “And” argument about death's powerlessness easier to follow, turning
a philosophical idea into a kind of battle.
ENJAMBMENT
"Death, be not proud" uses enjambment between lines 1-2, 3-4, Where P
Personification
ersonification appears in the poem:
11-12, and 13-14. While end-stopped lines grant the poem a
• Line 1: “Death, be not proud”
steady, controlled pace (one that evokes the speaker's
• Line 3: “thou think'st”
confidence in the poem's argument), enjambment creates
• Line 4: “Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”
moments of suspense, drama, and excitement.
• Lines 9-10: “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and
The enjambment between lines 1 and 2 undermines the idea of desperate men, / And dost with poison, war, and sickness
death as a powerful figure. There's no time to pause on the dwell,”
word "thee"; the speaker moves swiftly across the line • Line 12: “why swell'st thou then?”
break—and swiftly across the idea that death is "Mighty and • Line 14: “Death, thou shalt die.”
dreadful," easily tossing such characterizations aside.
Similarly, the enjambment between lines 3 and 4 undermines
death's power. Death thinks that it can "overthrow" people, but VOCABULARY
the enjambment smoothly pushes the reader past the line
break into the phrase "Die not." Thee (Line 1, Line 6, Line 7) - An archaic form of "you."
Thou (Line 2, Line 3, Line 4, Line 9, Line 12, Line 14) - An
Where Enjambment appears in the poem: archaic form of "you."
• Lines 1-2: “thee / Mighty” Art (Line 2, Line 9) - An archaic form of "are."
• Lines 3-4: “overthrow / Die” Think'st (Line 3) - An abbreviated form of "thinkest," which is a
• Lines 11-12: “well / And” 17th century rendering of "think."
• Lines 13-14: “eternally / And”
Dost (Line 3, Line 10) - The archaic second person singular
present form of "do." The usage here in line 2, for instance,
PARADOX simply emphasizes that Death thinks he really does "overthrow"
The poem's final line contains a par
parado
adoxx: the speaker declares (i.e. kill) people, an assumption the speaker counters in the
that "death" itself "shall be no more—that death itself "shalt following line.
die." If death is "no more," how can death die?
Canst (Line 4) - The archaic second person singular present
Remember, the speaker's beliefs about death stem from their form of "can."
Christian faith. Death doesn't "die" in the sense that it no longer
Thy (Line 5, Line 12) - The archaic form of "your."
exists; people on earth will continue to physically perish. The
speaker is arguing that this death doesn't constitute any kind of Pictures (Line 5) - Pictures here simply means images, with
meaningful ending, however, because people's souls will "wake possible connotations of paintings/artworks. Essentially, a dead
eternally" in heaven. Paradoxically, then, death is a kind rebirth person looks like someone resting or asleep.
into the afterlife. In rising again, people defeat, or kill, the idea Bones (Line 8) - Bones refers to the bones left behind after
of death itself. someone dies, and to the body more generally.
Poppy (Line 11) - Poppy is a reference to drugs, particularly
Where P
Par
arado
adoxx appears in the poem: those of the opioid family, which are derived from the poppy
• Line 14: “death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die” plant. Opium was a popular drug in the 17th century and
induces a sleepy, dream-like state.
PERSONIFICATION Charms (Line 11) - Charms is a reference to magic and spells.
The speaker personifies death from the start of the poem all Stroke (Line 12) - Stroke means touch, referring to the moment
the way through to the end. Sonnets were often written as an when Death comes to someone.
address to a lover, but Donne subverts this by addressing death Swell'st (Line 12) - Swell'st is an abbreviation of "swellest,"
as if it were a person. The speaker treats death as mistakenly

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which is an archaic version of "swell up."
SPEAKER
The speaker in "death, be not proud" is anonymous, though
FORM, METER, & RHYME critics often take the Holy Sonnets to be an expression of John
FORM Donne's own struggles with his Christian faith (particularly as
Donne had converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism a few
"Death, not be proud" is a sonnet
sonnet. It has two main sections: the years prior). However, nothing in the poem definitively proves
octave and the sestet. This makes it look most like a Petrarchan Donne to be the speaker.
sonnet. Based on its rh
rhyme
yme scheme
scheme, however, it can also be
broken into three quatrains and a concluding couplet—which is In fact, as the poem is essentially a logical battle with death, it's
more akin to the English sonnet. reasonable to think of the speaker as representing humanity
itself. Specifically, the poem's speaker chastises death from a
Sonnets lend themselves well to arguments: usually, the octave standpoint of certainty—they believe in the eternal afterlife,
presents an argument or point to which the sestet then and for them, this sole fact undoes everything that is usually
responds. The moment this response begins is called the terrifying or intimidating about the thought of death.
poem's turn, or volta. The turn in this poem is subtle: the
speaker simply intensifies the argument against death's power, The speaker talks widely about the world, and particularly
declaring that it's a "slave" to random chance and human humankind's role in it as opposed to death's. This supports the
whims. idea that the speaker positions themselves as a kind of
defender of humanity, taking on death through a series of
The rhyme scheme shifts in line 9, signaling this turn: whereas unfolding logical propositions. But, of course, it's up to the
lines 1-8 followed the scheme ABBA ABBA, line 9 introduces a reader to decide if the speaker's standpoint is convincing.
new rhyme sound. The pattern remains the same—CDDC—but
the sounds are new.
Donne then ends the poem with a couplet, adding a burst of SETTING
lyrical intensity. This final couplet allows for a further shift in
The setting of "Death, be not proud" is non-specific. In general,
the poem, this time to state, as clearly as possible, the reason
the poem is set on earth (as opposed to heaven). It is a poem
why death is powerless: the eternal afterlife.
that makes its argument in broad strokes, taking a look at
METER death's role on earth and arguing against the fear of dying.
The meter in "death, be not proud" is iambic pentameter. That said, there are one or two moments that seem to tie the
Modern readers might struggle to hear the iambic pentameter poem to the 17th century and to Europe (or possibly England)
clearly because of changes in the way certain words are more specifically. The first 8 lines give little away in terms of
pronounced. For example, "called" in Donne's era would have setting, but lines 9-11 provide some interesting clues. Line 9
been said with 2 syllables: "call-ed." Line 5 gives an example of accuses death of being "slave" to "kings," referencing the role of
perfect iambic pentameter: monarchs in the doling out of death among subjects. War was
not uncommon at the time of the poem's writing in 1610, which
From rest and sleep
sleep, which but thy pict
pictures be
be, was not long after the end of the Anglo-Spanish War
(1585-1604). This conflict, as with many others, was ultimately
The poem uses its steady meter to reinforce the argument that presided over by monarchs. Likewise, the religious turmoil in
death is powerless. Europe was also closely linked with its monarchies.
In line 11, "poppy" links the poem to 17th-century Europe as
RHYME SCHEME
well. The word is a euphemism for opium, a relatively popular
The rhyme scheme of the first 8 lines (the octave) is: drug in England at the time.
ABBAABBA
This is the typical scheme found in Petrarchan sonnets
sonnets.
CONTEXT
But the sestet diverges from the Petrarchan set-up. It rhymes:
CDDCEE LITERARY CONTEXT
In terms of rhyme, then, the poem can be divided into three John Donne is generally grouped together with Andrew
quatr
quatrains
ains (two of which form the octet) and an ending couplet
couplet. Marvell, George Herbert, and others as part of the
The development towards the couplet at the end lends force to "Metaphysical" Poets, though in truth he is a singular talent in
the conclusion, which is making the bold claim that Death itself the English canon. This poem comes from the "Holy Sonnet"
will die (because of the afterlife). series, a group of Donne's poems that mostly deals with issues

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of faith, mortality, and religious anxiety. Of those poems, this is
perhaps the most sure-footed; others present more of a MORE RESOUR
RESOURCES
CES
challenge to God, and worry about man's relationship to his
maker. But this was not always Donne's subject—as a younger EXTERNAL RESOURCES
man, Donne wrote marvelously constructed and extremely • A Clip from Wit — A clip from the film version of Wit, a play
witty poems that tended to be more interested in love and sex by Margaret Edson. The two lead characters discuss the
than God and penance. The early poems—in fact, all of Donne's punctuation of Donne's sonnet.
poems—were not published widely during his lifetime, but (https:/
(https://www
/www..youtube.com/watch?v=GS-m0U
outube.com/watch?v=GS-m0UAB3uQ AB3uQ))
circulated in small number amongst an exclusive group of • A Reading bbyy John Gielgud — A reading by the influential
people in the know. actor and theater director, John Gielgud.
The "metaphysical" poets was a description coined by the critic (https:/
(https://www
/www..youtube.com/watch?v=-A8mojwHjzU)
Samuel Johnson, who saw in Donne and his contemporaries a
• Britten
Britten's
's "Death, be not proud" — English composer
reliance on conceit
conceit—which is, in essence, an ingenious and
Benjamin Britten set a number of Donne's "Holy Sonnets"
sustained metaphor
metaphor—and an emphasis on the spoken quality of
to music. Here is a performance of "Death, be not proud."
their work. In fact, Donne was often criticized by his (https:/
(https://www
/www..youtube.com/watch?v=6ZPnuf2i7R
outube.com/watch?v=6ZPnuf2i7RU) U)
contemporaries for not being stricter with his meter and form.
Ben Jonson quipped that Donne deserved "hanging ... for not • The Holy Sonnets — A link to the entire "Holy Sonnets"
keeping accents." series (based on the Westmoreland manuscript).
(http:/
(http:///triggs.djvu.org/djvu-editions.com/DONNE/
Now, Donne is considered one of the foremost poets in the
SONNETS/Download.pdf)
English language. Those qualities that made him seem inferior
to some of his fellow poets and critics—his linguistic dexterity LITCHARTS ON OTHER JOHN DONNE POEMS
and his taste for the daringly imaginative—are those that make
• A Hymn to God the Father
him endure so strongly. He remains widely influential, and often • AVValediction:
alediction: F
Forbidding
orbidding Mourning
quoted (the 1999 play Wit, for example, makes frequent • AVValediction:
alediction: Of W
Weeping
eeping
reference to this particular poem). Bizarrely, J. Robert • Holy Sonnet 14: Batter mmyy heart, three-person
three-person''d God
Oppenheimer named the first atomic test site "Trinity" in • Holy Sonnet 7: At the round earth
earth's
's imagined corners
reference to Donne's Sonnet 14—which famously begins, • Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God." • No Man Is an Island
• Song: Go and catch a falling star
HISTORICAL CONTEXT • The Canonization
This poem was written in 17th-century England, a time of • The Flea
considerable religious turmoil and the expansion of British • The Good-Morrow
reach across the globe. Donne was a Catholic, born during a • The Sun Rising
time of great anti-Catholic sentiment. In 1593, Donne's • The T
Triple
riple F
Fool
ool
brother, Henry, was imprisoned for his Catholicism and died • To His Mistress Going to Bed
soon after. Critics disagree as to the exact reasoning behind
Donne's decision, but he subsequently changed his religious
allegiance by converting to Anglicanism. Later, he became a HOW T
TO
O CITE
cleric, delivering passionate sermons in Saint Paul's—including
one in which the phrase "no man is an island" originates. MLA
The tension between the two different forms of Christianity Howard, James. "Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud." LitCharts.
played on Donne's conscience, and the Holy Sonnets portray an LitCharts LLC, 23 Jan 2019. Web. 22 Aug 2022.
individual desperate for confirmation that they have chosen the
right faith, and that in turn they will be granted access to the CHICAGO MANUAL
afterlife. Howard, James. "Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud." LitCharts
LLC, January 23, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/john-donne/holy-
sonnet-10-death-be-not-proud.

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