1. This poem was written by John Donne who is
considered a metaphysical poet in the
Elizabethan period.
Metaphysical poets analyzed love, religion and
life from a psychological point of view.
2. This Holly Sonnet presents an argument
against the power of death .
The poet addresses Death as a person . He
gives physical characteristics to inanimate idea
or concept .
3. Mighty: powerful
Thee: you
Delivery: to reach freedom
Slave: servant
Fate: destiny
Desperate: one who feds up
Dost: does
Sickness: ill
Poppy: red flower which gives us opium
Charms: different ways of putting person to sleep
Stroke: attack
Swell: to become big
Eternally: forever
Shalt: shall
4. Abba / abba / abba / aa
In this sonnet, John Donne mix the
Shakespearian and the Petrarchan sonnet.
(Shakespearian, according to the division –
Petrarchan, according to the rhyme scheme.
5. The first quatrain:
In the first line, the speaker is personifying
death telling him that he shouldn’t be proud
although some people call him mighty and
dreadful, but it is not so and this is the reason
for not being proud.
The speaker then says that death cannot do
anything because he things that he killed
6. many people but actually they are not dead.
Then he adresses death, saying that death is a
poor thing even though he cannot destroy or
kill him.
The second quatrain:
The speaker is giving us a proof that death is
just like sleep and rest . He is comparing death
to sleep and rest. He is asking what we get
from sleep and rest but pleasure and if sleep
and rest are a copy from the original, so from
7. Death we are going to get more pleasure.
The speaker is telling us that when death come
to us it well free our souls and it well rest our
bones and our souls will fly from this prison
which is the body, so he is telling us that we
shouldn’t be afraid from it because it happen
everyday.
8. The speaker is giving us another proof that
death is not mighty. He is considering death as
a slave to faith because the slaves can’t control
themselves but they obey orders especially
when people want to commit suicide, he goes
with them and also he is a slave to chance and
kings.
9. Then the speaker is describing to us the place
when death is living in and that it is
surrounded by poison, wars and sickness. So
he is not powerful or mighty because if it was
so, it can change its surroundings.
The speaker is saying that anyone can have a
long sleep by using drugs or any kind of
medicine.
10. So death is not strong enough and this is better
than striking us because we will be waiting to
die.
After all, the speaker is asking him why he is
proud of himself.
11. The speaker is telling death that he is not afraid
of him because after this sleep, he will wake up
and live eternally and death, in the other
life, will have no place for him and he shall be
finished .
12. The poem is full of Alliteration:
Line 1: though – thee
Line 3: those – thou
Line 4: die – death / canst – kill
Line 6: much – more - must / then – thee /
from – flow
Line 10: dost – dwell / with – war
Line 12: than – thy / thou – then
Line 13: one – we – wake
Line 14: death – die / shall - shalt
13. He compares death to a slave
Metaphor with personification: Death, be not
proud.
He compares death to a person who is proud
Donne ends the poem with paradox and irony:
Death, thou shalt die.
14. Death is given negative human traits: pride mainly
Death is likened to sleep, a commonplace image
Poppy and charms refer to the use of opium and
magic to produce sleep, or to produce a gentle
death.
Poppy is metonymy , it is what is derived from the
poppy that is the opiate, not literally the flower
itself
15. Donne’s theme tells the reader that death has
no right to be proud.
This poem is a metaphysical poem:
It deals with human experience as much of the
poetry that was written during those time.
However, the poets of the era being intelligent
and educated meant that the poetry they wrote
would tackle the profound areas of experience.