هنا

[Abdulelah Mansour]

Identify, describe and comment of the following stanza?
A. Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

The speaker immediately creates a personified version of death by talking directly
to him. He paints a picture of Death as an arrogant being, and one who needs to be
humbled. The speaker assumes the position of the one who must humble this being,
Death. He tells him that he ought not to be so proud, even though for generations
people have feared Death and called him “mighty and dreadful”. The speaker,
however, with a voice of absolute authority on the matter, simply states, “thou art
not so”. This poet uses the literary tactic of “apostrophe” to drive home his point.
Apostrophe occurs when a writer addresses a subject who cannot respond. Readers
know immediately that this sonnet will consist of one speaker who will do all of the
talking and accusing of his subject. Death, though adequately personified, cannot
respond to the accusations of the speaker. the speaker accuses the death of
having illusions of grandeur. He claims that while Death thinks that he has the
power to kill, he actually does not. The speaker first humbles Death by telling him
that his idea that he has the power to overthrow lives is simply an illusion, and that
he has no such power at all. Then, to further humiliate Death, the speaker calls him
“Poor Death”. It sounds almost as if the speaker is making fun of Death for having
lived under the illusion that he had any sort of power over life or death. Then, he
addresses Death in a more personal manner, challenging him by saying, “yet canst
thou kill me”. It seems dangerous for one to threaten death in this way. However,
knowledge of John Donne’s background and ideologies can give some insight into
the speaker’s confidence here. Though everyone knows that physical death does
indeed occur, the speaker is challenging Death in a different way. He uses the
Christian theology of eternity to taunt Death by telling him, essentially, “Even if
you take my physical body, you can never truly kill me.”

B. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.


The second quatrain develops the idea that Death is not to be feared. In fact, much
the opposite is the case. The speaker draws the conventional analogy between
Death, on the one hand, and “rest and sleep,” which are Death’s “pictures” or
likenesses, on the other. We find rest and sleep pleasurable, so by analogy, we
should find Death much more so. The speaker introduces evidence of Death’s
pleasantness, namely, that “our best men” die early. Here, however, the poem
argues unconventionally, saying it is no tragedy that the good die young. Rather,
they die willingly, eager for rest for their bodies in the grave, and release or
freedom for their souls in heaven. Donne’s development of the pleasantness of
Death appears to be without irony; that is, Donne is not implying that the speaker is
naive about Death’s terror or power. Instead, the poem seems truly to argue that
Death is not powerful, that the terror we traditionally associate with death is
unwarranted, and that Death provides the believing Christian a genuine and
pleasurable reward.

C. Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?



Here, the speaker takes on a stronger tone and begins to taunt Death with more
ferocity than he did at first. Here, he calls Death a slave to “chance, kings, and
desperate men”. He tells Death that he is not mighty and dreadful, but rather a poor
slave who cannot even act on his own but is driven not only by fate and chance, but
also by people, rich and poor alike”. He then accuses Death of having lowly
companions such as “poison, war, and sickness”. He has taunted Death, telling him
that he is not to be feared, but rather that he is a slave to the will of fate and men,
and that as a lowly slave, his companions are the even lowlier beings such as
sickness and war. These accusations serve to allow the readers to feel a sense of
power and victory over Death. The speaker certainly feels authority over Death,
and he passes this feeling along to his readers when he puts Death in his place by
talking down to him. The speaker continues to taunt Death, even more, saying that
all he brings is a little sleep, and he doesn’t even do that as well as some other
bringers of rest such as “poppy” or “charms”. This comparison further portrays
Death as something not only weak, but even pleasurable. The speaker questions
Death, asking “why swell’st thou then?” He is asking him why he is so puffed up
with pride, when he cannot even do his job, as well as others, can.


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

With these final lines of Death, be not Proud, the speaker reveals exactly why he
has been taunting death so relentlessly. Although it is obvious that Death is real,
and that people who experience Death do not come back to earth, the speaker
reveals his reasons for claiming that Death is weak and easily overcome. He claims
that Death is only “one short sleep” and that those who experience Death “wake
eternally”. Then, he claims that “death shall be no more”. Finally, he tells Death,
“thou shalt die”. The speaker has not only told Death that he has no real power over
anyone, but that he will experience the end of himself when all wake in eternity
and death will be no more.

Important questions:
1- Why did the writer write this poem?
2- What reason does the speaker give in Holy Sonnet 10 that death should not be proud?
3- What is the advice of John Donne for the reader?
4- Why did the poet use logical argument?
5- What is the theme of this poem?
6- What is the style of this poem?