John Donne Poem 2

John Donne "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.



John Donne in "Death, Be Not Proud" creates the theme of death should not be feared as he uses an apostrophe, metaphors, and rhyme to create a hopeful mood that although death my take away our physical essence we shall be eternal. In the poem Death is personsified, through use of the apostrophe as the speaker addresses Death. The speaker's tone is poignant as he is sympathetic to death. This is evident throughout the poem particularly For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrowDie not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me which implies that Death is pathetic because he thinks he has power but really he doesn't and the speaker feels sorry for Death. The emjambment though some have called thee---Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; emphisizes the idea that the speaker has more authority than Death,and that there is a difference between the appearance of a Mighty and dreadful Death versus the reality of death as this poor being. This is further implied through the metaphor of Death to a slave. The comparison suggests that Death does not control himself and therefore has a master; by suggesting that Death has a master one can pity Death as he has no choice in what he does, but also it reassures others that Death is not to be feared because it has no real power of its own.
This poem follows many of the same themes as other metaphysical poets in that it suggests an eternal life. In the contradiction on the last line of death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die implies that as we wake eternally, that there is an afterlife and once in that afterlife you can not die again and so for that one can see how little death is. Donne also catalogs all the different ways one can die and dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell implying how death can have many forms and it is all Fate and Chance that men die but he is reassuring and hopeful that death is not the ending but rather our sould continue forward even if our physical bodies are no more - rest their bones. Donne creates a hopeful mood as he presents death as pleasure, in the same way that one can receive pleasure from rest and sleep, it is only a beginning abd in comparisons and apostrophe one comes to accept that death will come but one does not need to fear it because there is always something beyond it.

John Donne Poem 1

John Donne "The Good-Marrow"

I wonder by my troth, what thou, and I
Did, till we lov'd? Were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on countrey pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seaven sleepers den?
T'was so; But this, all pleasures fancies bee.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dreame of thee.

And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,
And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.

"The Good-Morrow" by John Donne is a sonnet in which the speaker discusses the love he has since childhood and over time it has awakened and grown and that in any love both parties must be equal participants in order for the love and relationship to grow and be everlasting. The form of the poem is three verses. When breaking down the poem into each verse it that the mood Donne creates is that of desire and acceptance of the love between the two individuals discussed in the poem. The first verse begins with multiple rhetorical questions that one lover purpose to the other that speak of certainty, as in how could they not love each other. The first verse describes the initial attraction between the two since childhood. Donne alludes to "seven Sleepers" representing the youth and also the idea of salvation and refuge within each other. Furthermore he relates the need of the lovers as children discussing how they "weaned"; and "sucked on country pleasures" implying a childish first love and yet in the final couplet between "see ..and thee" the speaker foreshadows that there is more between them as all he ever wanted was his lover, which he got.
In the second verse, Donne describes the current relationship built on each others wants and needs, this is interpreted because the speakers say "now good morrow" (i.e present time) Furthermore the speaker implies that the love between them has awaken by the "waking [of their] souls" and that they are each others soul mates. Donne also uses the repetition of "Let" to imply a fierceness to their relationship, such that its new and they are exploring it to the world but as one- "posses one world"
The final verse recognizes the stability in their relationship and the everlasting desires and wants they will have for each other noted by the first line when they see each other in each other's eyes. Donne uses a metaphor of the tow lover two the two half of a hemisphere to demonstrate how they work easily together and can become two halves of a whole. Also he alluded to the scholastic doctrine when he says "whatever dies was not mixed equally" and later says that "non can die" implying that in love they are both equal participants and have equal say and that is why there love shall survive and be everlasting.
John Donne in "The Good-Morrow" uses these techniques to exemplify the theme of the everlasting love built upon equality and develops a calming and hopeful atmosphere within the reader that they too have the chance of finding a relationship of equal halves.