This presentation was by Nojod. Death, Be Not Proud in The Renaissance.

1. This poem was written by John Donne who is
considered a metaphysical poet in the
Elizabethan period.
Metaphysical poets analyzed love, religion and
life from a psychological point of view.

2. This Holly Sonnet presents an argument 
against the power of death .
The poet addresses Death as a person . He 
gives physical characteristics to inanimate idea
or concept .

3. Mighty: powerful 
Thee: you 
Delivery: to reach freedom 
Slave: servant 
Fate: destiny 
Desperate: one who feds up 
Dost: does 
Sickness: ill 
Poppy: red flower which gives us opium 
Charms: different ways of putting person to sleep 
Stroke: attack 
Swell: to become big 
Eternally: forever 
Shalt: shall 

4. Abba / abba / abba / aa 
In this sonnet, John Donne mix the 
Shakespearian and the Petrarchan sonnet.
(Shakespearian, according to the division – 
Petrarchan, according to the rhyme scheme.

5. The first quatrain: 
In the first line, the speaker is personifying 
death telling him that he shouldn’t be proud
although some people call him mighty and
dreadful, but it is not so and this is the reason
for not being proud.
The speaker then says that death cannot do 
anything because he things that he killed

6. many people but actually they are not dead. 
Then he adresses death, saying that death is a 
poor thing even though he cannot destroy or
kill him.
The second quatrain: 
The speaker is giving us a proof that death is 
just like sleep and rest . He is comparing death
to sleep and rest. He is asking what we get
from sleep and rest but pleasure and if sleep
and rest are a copy from the original, so from

7. Death we are going to get more pleasure. 
The speaker is telling us that when death come 
to us it well free our souls and it well rest our
bones and our souls will fly from this prison
which is the body, so he is telling us that we
shouldn’t be afraid from it because it happen
everyday.

8. The speaker is giving us another proof that 
death is not mighty. He is considering death as
a slave to faith because the slaves can’t control
themselves but they obey orders especially
when people want to commit suicide, he goes
with them and also he is a slave to chance and
kings.

9. Then the speaker is describing to us the place 
when death is living in and that it is
surrounded by poison, wars and sickness. So
he is not powerful or mighty because if it was
so, it can change its surroundings.
The speaker is saying that anyone can have a 
long sleep by using drugs or any kind of
medicine.

10. So death is not strong enough and this is better 
than striking us because we will be waiting to
die.
After all, the speaker is asking him why he is 
proud of himself.

11. The speaker is telling death that he is not afraid 
of him because after this sleep, he will wake up
and live eternally and death, in the other
life, will have no place for him and he shall be
finished .

12. The poem is full of Alliteration: 
Line 1: though – thee 
Line 3: those – thou 
Line 4: die – death / canst – kill 
Line 6: much – more - must / then – thee / 
from – flow
Line 10: dost – dwell / with – war 
Line 12: than – thy / thou – then 
Line 13: one – we – wake 
Line 14: death – die / shall - shalt 

13. He compares death to a slave 
Metaphor with personification: Death, be not 
proud.
He compares death to a person who is proud 
Donne ends the poem with paradox and irony: 
Death, thou shalt die.

14. Death is given negative human traits: pride mainly 
Death is likened to sleep, a commonplace image 

Poppy and charms refer to the use of opium and 
magic to produce sleep, or to produce a gentle
death.
Poppy is metonymy , it is what is derived from the 
poppy that is the opiate, not literally the flower
itself

15. Donne’s theme tells the reader that death has 
no right to be proud.
This poem is a metaphysical poem: 
It deals with human experience as much of the 
poetry that was written during those time.
However, the poets of the era being intelligent 
and educated meant that the poetry they wrote
would tackle the profound areas of experience.

16. Nejod Faisal Zafir 