11 - Death Be Not Proud

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

This poem is about death as an affront to the male ego but it is ironic in using dying as a threat to frighten death in itself/dedicating a poem to it. The poet depicts death as a force that is supposed to be “mighty and dreadful” because it kills everybody, but he denies its invincibility, pitying “poor” death and declaring that it will not kill him. Assuming the voice of a preacher—John Donne was an Anglican minister—the poet attempts to convince his audience, by the power of his rhetorical attack and his faith in the afterlife, not to be afraid of death. However, the speaker’s fear is implicit, as the speaker attempts to restrict death’s power to the temporal world, despite depicting it as a necessary gateway to heaven. The poem’s concern with death reflects contemporary interest in the concept due to the short life expectancy of the time; indeed, death was the only certainty in the ever-changing society. Momento mori – Latin medieval designation. Practice of reflection of mortality. Abundance of skulls in R imagery e.g. Holbein Ambassadors

Question 2

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Answer 2

• Death be not proud = direct address, drama as dom form of literature. Undermining power of death. Obsession apparent in first and last word of poem. Trochaic ‘death be not proud’ = uncompromising
• Mighty and dreadful = polysyllables contrast with first line. Personifying death. Evidence of death’s power vs. personal fear?
• Thou art not so = monosyllables, conviction
• Poor death= mocking and scornful in attempt to dismiss power. Pities death, provocative vs. disguise for own fear. Encases death in caesura, attempt to control it

Question 3

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
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.

Answer 3

• Poor death= mocking and scornful in attempt to dismiss power. Pities death, provocative vs. disguise for own fear. Encases death in caesura, attempt to control it
• Nor yet canst thou kill me = only personal pronoun, ultimate moment of vulnerability
• Which but thy pictures be = Vanitas art. Poetry as a construct. Momento mori in Modernist thought
• Much pleasure = death is respite from earthly suffering.
• Our best men with thee do go = collective pronoun, death affects humanity rather than individual, keeps it abstract and conceptual to make it less scary in personal terms
• Rest of their bones = reference to purgatorial state before judgment. Sleep-like
• Soul’s delivery = pun on rebirth. Paradoxical necessity of death for spiritual awakening (we wake eternally)

Question 4

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?

Answer 4

• Slave = death has no agency, ironic given inevitability of death and necessity of death as gateway
• Fate, chance, kings = asyndetic list, increases pace, defiant tone. Anxiety of speaker caused by constant change in society vs. faith and doubt
• Poison, war, and sickness dwell = associated with destructive parts of life
• Poppy = opium
• Can make us sleep as well = collective pronoun, in addition to death vs. just as successfully
• Stroke = personified figure of death in popular culture depicted as holding a sithe
• Why swell’st thou then? = death is absent listener. Swelling with pride is deadly sin

Question 5

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Answer 5

• One short sleep past, we wake eternally = juxtaposition of short and eternally. Conforming with Xian tradition of death as a gateway. Poem is religious. Paradoxical tension of the importance of death in the temporal world. Sibilance intensifies the swiftness of the movement into eternity
• And (…) and = anaphoric repetition of and suggests connected summary of the charges he amasses against death. Building pace as he undermines death’s power. Creates a defiant, arrogant tone, adds bravado vs. suggests loss of argument
• Death shall be no more: death, thou shalt die = caesura creates dramatic pause. Speaker predicts the end of death itself. Bible, 1Cor15:26 – ‘the final enemy to be destroyed is death’. Metaphysical moment of paradox. Monosyllables and modal verb suggest certainty of power in overcoming death. However, obsession with death evoked in last word of poem. Half rhyme suggests speaker vs. death’s power, creates jarring discordance.

Question 6

themes

Answer 6

Death
Argument
Rhetoric 
Afterlife
Faith and doubt
Intense emotion
Unexpected arguments
Conflict 
Inner psyche

Question 7

title

Answer 7

Establishes argument

Sets ambiguity surrounding tone: mocking/serious/fearful?

Question 8

language general

Answer 8

• Direct address – personification of death
• Trochaic first syllable – death as unimportant, word itself is harsh and uncompromising
• Polysyllables vs. monosyllables
• A syndetic list of terrors
• Dramatic pause enacted by caesura – death, thou shalt die
• Anaphoric repetition of ‘and’
• Use of rhetorical techniques convey fears which ultimately cannot be restrained
• Death figured as absent listener
• Modal verb in final line suggests certainty in ability to overcome death
Sibilance intensifies the swiftness of the movement into eternity

Question 9

language how death is figured

Answer 9

• Figures death as:
o Personified
o Physical experience
o Delivery/rebirth aka. Gateway (pun on rebirth)
o Asleep in Xian theology (Juxtaposition of short and eternally)

Question 10

language, pronouns

Answer 10

o 1 personal pronoun – ‘canst thou kill me’. Indicates ultimate moment of fear
o 2nd pp run through – according death power

Question 11

structure general

Answer 11

• Each of the quatrains is composed of one sentence that Donne artfully extends over the four lines, thus imparting a sense of unity and development. Each quatrain presents an important link in the exposition of the argument against death, and the couplet both concludes and summarizes the attack with a ringing declaration of faith in the certainty of the afterlife and the demise of death.
• Apostrophising: direct address of death
• Obsession reflected in first and last word of poem
• First octave presents tension between mankind and death. Negates power of death yet in doing so, reinforces its necessity. 2nd person pronouns accord death power.
Encases death in caesura, attempt to control

Question 12

structure, sonnet

Answer 12

• 14 lines, Petrarchan structure. Rigid form (and use of rhetoric) contrasts with volatile psyche. Anxious mind seeking to controlling terrible threat
o Holy Sonnet, begrudging reference to death
o Petrarchan rhyme scheme of ABBA for first two quatrains
o Rhyme deterioration at end suggests power and destructive force of death
o Rhyme ties rhetoric together. ‘Eternally’ and ‘die’ kept aside for effect

Question 13

structure, meter

Answer 13

• Trochaic meter of first line, powerfully accented
o Another technique employed to diminish the power of death is through the alternation of regular and unconventional prosodic stress. When Donne wants to show that death is not to be feared, he orders it within the regular iambic beat (“And soonest our best men with thee do go”), but when he wants to attack death, he employs a pounding, sustained stress (“Death, be not proud,” “Death, thou shalt die”).

Question 14

context

Answer 14

• Momento mori – Latin medieval designation. Practice of reflection of mortality. Abundance of skulls in R imagery e.g. Holbein Ambassadors
• Vanitas art, 16th and 17th century – skulls, rotten fruit. Death is a morbid certainty in a changing world
• JD reflects Seneca’s idea that death is nothing. Low life expectancy = death normalized
• ‘Poetic duel with death; – John Carey. Shifting tone and mood
• In his latter years, JD gives a Death’s Dual sermon in his shroud. Death is a crisis.
• Drama as dominant form of literature
• Purgatory as sleep-like state
• Motif of faith and doubt
• Uncertainty in contemporary society
• Death personified in popular culture as holding a sithe
• Swelling recalls sin of pride
• Xian tradition of death as gateway
• 1 Cor 15:26
Metaphysical paradox

Question 15

evaluative sentences - purpose

Answer 15

The poet depicts death as a force that is supposed to be “mighty and dreadful” because it kills everybody, but he denies its invincibility, pitying “poor” death and declaring that it will not kill him. Assuming the voice of a preacher—John Donne was an Anglican minister—the poet attempts to convince his audience, by the power of his rhetorical attack and his faith in the afterlife, not to be afraid of death.

Question 16

evaluative sentences - power

Answer 16

Whilst the speaker attempts to portray himself as in possession of power – as seen through the mocking tone and the figuring of death as an absent listener – the illusory nature of the speaker’s control is hinted at in his emerging vulnerability; indeed, the power of death remains inevitable.

DBNP presents death as a necessary gateway for the Christian notion of eternal life. However, the poem juxtaposes the temporary power of death with the eternally awakening effect it offers, in order to restrict death’s power to the temporal world. This proves largely ironic, since by presenting it as an essential part of achieving eternal life, the speaker unknowingly accords death with power.

Question 17

evaluative sentences - gender

Answer 17

Whilst the gender of the speaker could be disputed, the confrontational tone of the poem suggests the typically male arrogance associated with the poems of John Donne – who was certainly a product of his patriarchal culture. This appears to accord the speaker with more power, and thus further undermine death. Yet, it is clear that death remains ultimately more powerful, as the speaker depicts it an essential gateway to heaven and an inevitable part of human life.

Question 18

evaluative sentences - octave

Answer 18

The first octave of the poem introduces the clear tension between mankind and death. Whilst the poet attempts to negate its power, by dedicating a poem to death, he ultimately elevates its importance. This is certainly evident in the abundance of second person pronouns used to address death, ‘some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so’. The polysyllabic adjectives, ‘mighty and dreadful’ are placed in stark contrast with the monosyllabic, first clause, ‘death be not proud’. This signals the speaker’s fear in addressing death and simultaneously allows death power.

Question 19

evaluative sentences - rhyme scheme

Answer 19

Whilst, similarly to ATREIC, DBNP conforms with the Petrarchan rhyme scheme of abba in the octave, the deterioration of the rhyme scheme in the sestet signals the inevitably destructive force of death. Indeed, the half rhyme of the final couplet creates a jarring discordance, which suggests death has conquered. Nevertheless, the final line of the poem, ‘death, thou shalt die’ could be seen as evoking a moment of defiance, as the modal verb ‘shalt’ conveys the conviction with which the poet persona speaks. Here, the speaker invokes 1 Corinthians 15:26, which predicts the end of death itself. However, the speaker’s confidence is ultimately undermined by his obsession with death, as evidenced by the first and last word of the poem both referring to death. This thus depicts death as more powerful than the speaker, chiming the Modernist view of writing as a construct, since whilst the poem appears limited in its dimensionality, the fear of the speaker is evident, despite his attempts to undermine death’s power.

Question 20

compare to

Answer 20

At The Round Earth’s Imagined Corners (death)
Redemption (death, hope)
Nocturnal
Apparition (intense emotion – projected outwards, but provides illumination of inward persona)