DEATH, BE NOT
PROUD
Brief Summary
Structure
Definition of Terms
Thematic Concerns
Poetic Devices 1
JOHN DONNE
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1 Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
QUATRAIN 1
2 Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
3 For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
OCTAVE
4 Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
5 From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
2
QUATRAIN
6 Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
7 And soonest our best men with thee do go,
8 Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
9 Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
3
QUATRAIN
10 And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
SESTET
11 And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
12 And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
13 One short sleep past, we wake eternally
ET
COUPL
14 And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
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BRIEF SUMMARY
“Right off the bat, the speaker starts mocking Death, whom he treats as a person. He tells Death not to be so proud,
because he’s really not as scary or powerful as most people think. The speaker starts pointing out that, people don’t
really die when they meet Death –and neither will the speaker. Then, he really tries to burn Death’s ego by
comparing him to "rest and sleep," two things that aren’t scary at all.
Next, to paraphrase Billy Joel, the speaker claims that "only the good die young," because the best people know
that death brings pleasure, not pain. As if this isn’t enough humiliation, the speaker kicks it up a notch, calling
Death a "slave" and accusing him of depending on "poison, war, and sickness" to do his bidding. Besides, we don’t
need Death –the speaker can just take drugs, and it will have the same effect: falling asleep. So death is just a "short
sleep," after which a good Christian will wake up and find himself in Eternity. Once this happens, it will seem like
Death has died.”(Donne, Adcock – 2004)
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STRUCTURE
• This is a Petrarchan sonnet (a poem with 14 lines) as it
has three quatrains and a couplet. Research on, “the
differences between a Shakespearean and
Petrarchan poem.”
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STRUCTURE CONT…
The rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDDC EE/EF.
Although sonnets are known to have a rhyming couplet,
some pronunciations make it difficult to allocate one letter
to the couplet. For instance, Petrarchan poets such as
Donne may have used Italian dialects.
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TONE AND MOOD
• There are many ways to describe the tone portrayed in
this poem and one of them is that the poet is very blunt or
direct towards Death.
Come up with 3 more words that describe the tone
The mood of this poem is simply the emotional effect that it
creates for the readers through its carefully selected
diction. It can be described as: irritation towards Death,
hopeful that as Christians we have eternal life,
sentimental
ENG 123 MAKOLOBANE (in what sense?) and optimistic (why?). 7
DEFINITION OF TERMS
RHYTHM
Shakespeare’s sonnets are all written in a rhythmical pattern called iambic
pentameter, which is basically a single line with five (5) ‘beats’ in it.
An iamb consists of two parts, one ‘soft,’ one ‘hard’- di-dum. E.g. because; so
long; annoy; demand; attract.
Pentameter means five ‘beats’. ‘Penta’ is the Greek for five e.g. pentagon (an
object with five sides). ‘Meter’ means beats or rhythm of the poem. Hence, an
iambic pentameter:
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’
‘Di-dum di-dum di-dum di-dum di-dum.’ [Shakespeare and Anthony (2018)]
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TERMS CONT…
RHYME
Almost all Shakespeare’s sonnets rhyme in the same pattern. The last word of the first
line rhymes with the last word of the third line. Similarly, the last word of the second
line rhymes with the fourth, etc. The notation for this is ‘abab’-you get an ‘a’ rhyme
first, then ‘b’, and then, in the third line, you get an ‘a’ again, which rhymes with the
first ‘a’. Etc.
The first twelve lines follow this rhyming structure. However, the rhymes only appear
once each; each block of four lines has a different set of rhymes. Hence, in the second
block of rhymes, the notation is ‘cdcd’. And the third block is ‘efef’. The final two lines
always rhyme. Hence, ‘gg’. So, a Shakespearean sonnet rhymes: abab-cdcd-efef-gg.
[Shakespeare and Anthony (2018)]
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TERMS CONT…
• A Shakespearean sonnet (nearly always) consists of three quatrains (blocks of
flour lines) and a couplet (the last two lines.)
• The first two quatrains together are called the octave (for eight lines). During
the octave, the initial point of the poem is expressed.
• At the start of line 9, the poem typically gives a counter argument to the point
made in the octave. This critical turning point is called the volta. The last six
lines, consisting of the third quatrain and the couplet, are called the Sestet.
• The final couplet summarises the poem, drawing a conclusion
[Shakespeare and Anthony (2018)]
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THEMATIC CONCERNS
Themes are critical to the analysis of any given piece of
poetry regardless of the structure. In Donne’s, ‘Death, Be
Not Proud’ there are a number of lessons that come up. The
most obvious one is THE POWERLESSNESS OF DEATH.
That is, death does not have the power that he thinks
he has over our lives. Although in line 7, “And soonest
our best men with thee do go” hints that Death has
some power as it can sometimes succeed in taking our
best men.
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WHAT ELSE DO WE LEARN FROM THIS POEM?
POETIC DEVICES/LITERARY
DEVICES
Personification (Line 1 ) the speaker personifies death
throughout the poem.
Symbolism (Line 5, 13)
Imagery (Line 1, 5, 9, 10 etc.)
Metaphor (Line 2)
FIND MORE EXAMPLES OF LITERARY DEVICES IN
THE POEM!!!
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