Death be not Proud

Question 1

Death, be not proud

Answer 1

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Might and dreadful, for thou art not so;

tricked others, but not Donne
Direct address - apostrophe

Question 2

Die not, poor Death

Answer 2

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

Patronising of death
Death is mistaken that it kills people

Question 3

From rest and sleep

Answer 3

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure;

Death is harmless, and even pleasant, contrasting to the pictures people have made of him.

Question 4

Thou art slave

Answer 4

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men,

listing emphasises death’s lack of control over how death happens.

Question 5

And dost with

Answer 5

And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell

Death is tainted - listing again.

Question 6

And poppy or

Answer 6

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke;

Death is no more powerful than drugs, which feel better than death.
Repetition of and emphasises the numerous faults of death.

Question 7

why swell’st

Answer 7

why swell’st thou then?

why are you so arrogant? mocking death

Question 8

On short sleep past

Answer 8

One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more;

reducing death to a short sleep, and death vanishes after.

Question 9

Death, thou

Answer 9

Death, thou shalt die.

Final irony that death is mortal
Triumphant tone, as Donne ‘defeats’ death.

Question 10

Precis

Answer 10

Death be not proud is a Petrarchan sonnet, part of Donne’s Holy Sonnets, . Donne argues contradicting conventional views by mocking death and arguing it is not powerful.