Read the poem below and write a blog post that:
1. Discusses the structure/form/diction etc. of the poem.
2. And try to make meaning--what is Donne's message? What does Donne try to teach his readers?
1. Discusses the structure/form/diction etc. of the poem.
2. And try to make meaning--what is Donne's message? What does Donne try to teach his readers?
Your response is due by the end of the day (midnight) on Wed. 9-11-13
Death, be not proud
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
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.
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?
One short sleep past, we wake
eternally
And death shall be no more;
Death, thou shalt die.
Death, be not proud by John Donne is a sonnet. There are fourteen lines and there is an 8-6 pattern. After reading the sonnet, you can notice a tone shift after the 8th line where Donne writes "Thou art slave to fate". This sonnet has a very "Shakespearian" feel to it with the diction choices. Many times throughout the sonnet Donne uses words such as: canst, thee, shalt, think'st, etc. Readers get a good understanding of when the sonnet was written and how people wrote and spoke in that time period, which can be very helpful when figuring the meaning.
ReplyDeleteDonne is trying to teach his readers that death is not what matters in the end; there is no need to put so much thought into death. The important part is where you go once you have died. Donne writes in lines 7 and 8:
"And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery"
which is talking about the souls of the dead reaching eternal life in Heaven while their bodies stay on earth to rest for ever. Death may be a big part on getting to Heaven - one must pass away before one can go to Heaven - but the real importance of leaving earth is to get there. Life should be lived so you can get to Heaven because otherwise, you might not get your chance in eternal happiness. "And soonest our best men with thee do go" means that only the people who lived a life worthy of eternal happiness can be entered into Heaven. One of the best lines in the sonnet are the last two, where Donne writes:
"One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die."
There is no death in Heaven, so when you get to eternity death no longer has a purpose.
Very nice looking more critically at a couple lines, especially the last lines. Usually the last line(s) of the poem are among the most important, and you did a nice job identifying one of Donne's messages--that heaven, not death, is important.
DeleteJohn Donne’s poem Death, be not proud is structured as a sonnet. Some of the diction choices—thee, thou, art—make me believe that this poem was written long ago. Since the poem is written about not fearing death, it could have been written during an era that was filled with illness and death. This poem could have been given to a grieving society to give them comfort.
ReplyDeleteDeath isn’t just sleeping, as some people may believe. Donne says that “poppy and charms can make us sleep as well.” Death isn’t just laying in the ground, sleeping. Death isn’t “mighty or dreadful.” It can be assumed by the topic of this poem that the author is a religious man, since he’s trying to portray an image of Heaven. He even mentions a “king,” which could mean Jesus.
“One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die”
This line gives great imagery of waking up in Heaven. It restates his point of death not being similar to sleeping. When we die, we don’t sleep; we wake. Since death isn’t bad in this poem, nobody should fear death. Instead we should welcome death—therefore causing death to die.
Hi Taren,
DeleteI thought it was really interesting that you pointed out that historical events going on at the time the poem was written could affect the poem’s meaning. It’s definitely important to think about events that were going on in an author’s life to see what might’ve influenced their writing.
I also liked your argument for Donne being a religious man and the examples of heaven in the poem.
Good job!
Katey
Taren,
DeleteI am very intrigued and enjoyed that you tried to think about the social context that might have influenced this poem--like how this could have been written in a time where death/illness might have been overshadowing life. I also like how you ended with this idea "we should welcome death" because I agree that is Donne's overall message.
The poem Death, be not proud by Johne Donne is a 14 line poem which means it is a sonnet. The poem is structured into a rhyme scheme of abba, and half way though it switched to cddc. The diction that is used sounds like it is early English. With words like thou, art, and canst make it sound like it was written in the Shakespeare era.
ReplyDeleteJohne's poem is rather unique. In the beginning it talks about Death being a big bad person. He talks him up and makes Death sound like a terrifying thing. But at the ninth line the poem takes a slight shift. The narrator gets aggressive towards death and starts making fun of him. He is taunting him and calling him a slave. He then makes death sound rather enjoyable because he says after a "short sleep past, we wake up eternally and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."(13-14)These lines make death sound like it is a glorified end to the worry of death.
The reason why he wrote this poem sounds like it is supposed to help with the grieving process of death or make people not fear death as much. It is truly a remarkable poem.
Chris,
DeleteI like how you pointed out the tone changes throughout the poem because the narrator definitely changes how he describes Death. He does get aggressive! I like your word choices and you backed up all of your claims with good examples from the poem.
You also made a good point when you said the poem is about helping with the grieving process of death. I didn't think of it that way at first but it definitely makes sense and is a good way of looking at it.
Jenna
Chris,
DeleteI like how you interpreted the poem by saying that the author is "making fun of death" and portraying it in different ways to help with the grieving process. I enjoy how you put death into a persona to compare it, it's nice seeing how other people interpreted it, especially when it's not how yourself did.
Sam
I also like your use of "aggressive" and completely agree that Donne's audience could have been for those who are grieving, which is making me think about that chart we reviewed early in the semester.
DeleteIntricately dissecting a piece of literature – regardless of the its format - is critical in becoming a skilled bookworm. John Donne’s poem, Death, is composed of fourteen lines – falling under the classification of a sonnet – and possesses a rhyme scheme, consisting of ABBA. From a structural aspect, the text is simple, yet meaningful. Donne’s “Shakespearean” flair of diction is portrayed with the use of the proper terminology – “For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow” - to accurately resemble that era. (1574) From a biblical interpretation – one of many possible references – Donne meaningfully injects “Rest their bones, the soul’s delivery” (1579) in the poem, establishing sense of graceful death, as well as the journey and transition of the soul from its whereabouts, to heaven. The poet also elaborates on the true purpose of death in saying, “… we wake eternally, and death shall be no more” (1630 – 1631). Once you endure your death, whether it is an intense “poison” or a blissful “charm” – there is much more waiting. The end has yet to come.
ReplyDeleteJohn Donne’s sonnet, Death, introduces demise from a vastly unique philosophy. The author is not stressing the desire to die, rather the acceptance one must possess when death approaches them.
Ben,
DeleteI thought it was amazing that you could dissect this poem--for diction and also a deeper meaning--and also add so much voice. Searching for a deeper meaning isn't always the most entertaining thing to do, but your voice makes it more enjoyable.
I also liked the last small paragraph that you added. It simplified your point and restated the deeper meaning in an easy-to-read format.
Good job!
Taren
You, like many others, are doing a nice job really focusing on the diction. Also, I need to look this up, but this really does feel like a Christian poem, and the idea of the bible/heaven are strong in this piece. It makes me wonder what or how Donne felt about religion (and while the persona might not be Donne exactly, you have to think his voice or ideals will still emerge in his poems).
DeleteAccording to Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, if it's square, it's a sonnet. This poem by John Donne is a sonnet, with an ABBA rhyme scheme up until the couplet. The poem is broken tonally after the eighth line. Donne speaks to Death as an individual, much like in The Book Thief. However, Donne seems to belittle Death. He tells Death to "be not proud" (1) and asks, "why swell'st thou then?" (12). Instead of viewing death as the end, Donne sees it as something temporary.
ReplyDeleteThe last two lines indicate something beyond death. Death isn't the end; it is something that has an end. After Death has died, Donne says that one may live "eternally" (13). He doesn't believe that death should be feared. It is simply something everyone must go through if they want to truly live.
Cole,
DeleteI really like how you incorporated Foster into you paper by quoting the line "if its a square, its a sonnet." It is nice to see our assigned reading for class be used as an application when reading a piece of literature.
I also enjoyed the last line by saying death is something everybody has to go through to truly live. That is just re-enforcing the fact death should not be feared at all and it is just part of life.
Good Job!
Chris
Cole,
DeleteI like how you bring in pieces from How to Read Literature Like a Professor and then how you make the connection between The Book Thief and the poem, I never made that connection at all.
You also did a nice job in the second paragraph; I like how you worded, "The last two lines indicate something beyond death". When you say that death, "Is simply something everyone must go through if they want to truly live" it reminded me of the fact that death is part of life and it wouldn't be the same without that crucial part.
Good job, Sam
I love that you mentioned The Book Thief...in the past I have had students compare/contrast this poem to Death in Zusak's novel because I really do love the way both author's bring death to life, or make death something human.
DeleteThe poem Death, be not proud by John Donne is a sonnet; we know that because it has fourteen lines. The diction in this poem stands out because it is so cleverly put together. Donne relates death to resting, sleeping, etc. We can also determine from the use of words such as thou, thee, shalt, etc. that this poem is most likely up in its years. The use of rhyming in this poem was an interesting choice; the poem is not exactly pleasant and does not necessarily warrant the use of rhyming, but the rhymes help keep the poem from becoming too morbid.
ReplyDeleteThe poem begins by personifying death and knocking him down a peg; death has no reason to be proud or feel high and mighty because he is not nearly as powerful as he thinks. The purpose of this poem is to make it clear that death is not the end all be all. Death has been made out to be a horrible thing that everyone should fear, but Donne argues that death is simply “rest and sleep” (line 5). The constant relating of death to something peaceful like sleep supports the overall meaning – that death is nothing to fear and what comes after is much more important. Donne also makes the claim that death is “slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (line 9) which emphasizes the powerlessness of death.
The poem is left open-ended and doesn’t answer the question “what happens next?” However, Donne refers to death as “one short sleep” (line 13) and then goes on to point out that we will “wake eternally” (line 13) – referring to Heaven and the afterlife – and then death will no longer matter. The overall theme of this poem seems to be related to acceptance. Once we have accepted that death is death, nothing bigger or scarier, we will be able to live our lives in peace.
Hi, Jenna:
DeleteWhat you said about the rhymes keeping the poem from being too morbid was very interesting. I feel that sonnets are often romanticized--especially poems from this era--so Donne would most likely have added the rhyme schemes to "sweeten up" the poem a bit, while keeping the nice flow.
I completely agree with you that Death is not as all powerful as he (she? it?) thinks of himself to be. Nice job transcending Death's personification from the poem to your blog response.
I hadn't thought about how open-ended the poem was until I read your blog response! Up until the end, the poem had been pretty straight-forward on Donne's views on Death, so this was a nice way to leave it off with some mystery.
Nice job!
Maeve
I love your phrasing with the poem being "up in its years" and you make me think how brillantly Donne sets up this poem. First, he does bring him "down a peg" and then really explaining why--why being the fact death won't harm us in the after life, or in heaven. I love your voice in this post!
DeleteIn Death, be not proud, John Donne urges his audience not to fear their own demise. The first four lines forcefully and passionately portray the personified Death as foolish for believing he is “mighty and dreadful” (2). Donne wants to let Death to know that it should never be arrogant of its feigned power, because it has only attained its status through the perpetuation of humanity’s fear towards dying. However, we see some of Donne’s anger towards Death lessen as the last eight lines of the poem begin; Death, be not proud, follows a typical sonnet form, where certain sentiments or meanings alter from the first six lines to the last eight. In a less condemning manner, Donne instead calls Death commonplace by calling him a “slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men…” (9). Donne continues to list Death’s mundane, everyday kills, like poison, sickness, and charms. The last two lines command the audience once again to not fear dying. With the quote, “one short sleep past, we wake eternally” (13), Donne finishes the poem with the notion that Death—and humanity's fear of it—will die along with us when we reach our demise.
ReplyDeleteYour line about death "should never be arrogant of its feigned power" is wonderfully said and observed. I also like you are noting the tone of the persona--how he is angry. Its always good to get in the habit of identifying the overall tone of the speaker (along with everything else I have been telling you like tone, syntax, etc!).
DeleteJohn Donne's poem, Death is structured as a 14 lined poem, familiarized as a sonnet. This poem has a rhyme pattern pf ABBA until the last two lines, the couplet, where the rhyme scheme is lost; while reading this powerfully written poem I came to realize that there are three sentences in the poem, with none of the sentences even ending around the eighth line. The diction in the poem seems to be set in an older time period with words such as thee, dost, think'st, art, shalt, thou, etc. The word choice John Donne used was fantastic for the meaning of the poem however; the diction was a great way to help get out what his meaning is within the poem.
ReplyDeleteIn a strange way, I like the meaning I get from the poem--death isn't as terrible and depressing as some make it seem. After multiple rereads of this piece of literature, I comprehend that Donne is trying to show the audience that everyone has to go, you can't live forever, it's your fate, it's everyone's fate no matter who you are with the poem writer saying, "Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men" (9). I also like the line, "One short sleep past, we wake eternally and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die" (13-14). This line gives great meaning by saying that after awhile--of death--you're going to awake in heaven, and death will then be dead to you.
From reading the poem over and over, and taking apart bits and pieces of the poem, the major message found in the poem was that you shouldn't be afraid to die--don't wish to die, but don't be afraid of it, it's going to happen to everyone at some point or another.
Sam,
DeleteI really like how you pointed out the pattern in the sonnet. A lot of times it is hard to notice the pattern, so you can tell you really spent a lot of time rereading and analyzing the sonnet. You mentioned that you had to read the sonnet many times before you understood completely, and I think that is a great thing to do and something everyone should try.
The message you got from Death, be not found is really good. I like how you said that everyone will eventually have to pass away and that it is fate so it isn't anything to be scared about. It was very cool to see that you weren't creeped out by the poem and that you looked at it positively instead on negatively. Not everything has to be bad.
I like seeing/reading that you had to read the poem and you did look at the sentence structure. I also think you are right to say that Donne really is trying to show us a new perspective--that death isn't as scary as many humans make it to be, especially when we read the last line about getting to heaven and "death will be dead."
DeleteBaylee Hayes said...
ReplyDeleteObviously from other responses and the clues within the text, we know that's this is a sonnet with a 8-6 pattern and a tone shift at the line, "Thou art slave to fate…" (9). Like Madi, Taren, and Chris all said the Shakespearian diction reveals to us the time period in which the poem was written– but what's the deeper meaning? The tricky choice of words made analyzing the poem difficult at first, but once I took the time to break it down it wasn't too tough. I felt the persona's extreme confidence over Death, especially in the last line when Donne says, "Death, thou shalt die," (14). You can tell the persona isn't even phased by Death, let alone scared of him/her. You see this clearly in line five when Donne writes, "From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be/Much pleasure; them from thee much more flow," (5-6). So sleeping is like dying, and sleep is a wonderful thing, so Death has to be equally as wonderful, right? Donne does a really good job at giving the persona power over Death in his poem, 'Death be not proud.'
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DeleteLike Cole, I completely agree the persona has some strong confidence in this poem, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading this, especially because the persona is challenging death--I mean its death! And yes, the persona does have the power in this piece, which is an interesting new way to read a poem.
DeleteBaylee,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that the persona is confident. The evidence you provided helps reinforce that. I think the second line also indicates this when it says "thou art not so." (2). Death is not as bad as some may think. The end of the poem also makes Death sound like a "wonderful thing." It speaks of eternity, meaning that Death is not the ultimate destination. It really bring Death down a notch, putting him/her in his/her place.
Cole