Death, be not proud

Death, be not proud by John Donne

Unlike many of the dismal, death poems prior to this one, John Donne's is a victory poem about death. However, he is not victorious in the sense that he cheats death. He mentions how death comes to all, even "our best men with thee do go" (Donne 971). There is personification in the text by how the narrator speaks to death, as if it were a some sort of being. He speaks of how death perceives itself as high and mighty, but negates this by saying that it is just not so. The main point that he is making of death is that it is not some sort of great evil presence that we must fear, however it is merely a vehicle that we use to pass from this world to the next. He belittles death to a "slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men", the desperate men referring to the those who commit suicide (Donne 971). Not only does he reference how death is not in actual control but he compares the actual death to one short sleep passed, understating it to a nap. He then quickly follows by saying, "we wake eternally" (Donne 972). The function of this line, is to compare death's small, and temperate role in our souls existence with the everlasting life that we live after death completes its purpose.