Also known as Death Be Not Proud. Like I said earlier, I had to do a presentation on this poem today, so here’s some notes from it. One thing we didn’t focus on enough was the form of the poem itself, so I added in some notes about that at the end. What I have here is pretty basic, so if you have any more notes or interpretations, leave them in the comments!
We also played this video at the beginning. This lady is actually criticizing the version of the poem that is in our textbook =P
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are 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, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
Line 1 – Donne’s thesis statement
- Pride was the first sin, brought about death.
Ezekiel 28: 13, 17:
13. You [Satan] were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
17. Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
- Death is not mighty, just a tool.
- Not dreadful, for Christian it is a good thing.
- A tool subject to fate, chance, kings, desperate men, but also a tool God uses for good – death brings about life through Jesus Christ, ironic how God used something Satan meant for destruction of men, to bring life to men.
Romans 6:3-14: “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life.”
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,
- Physical death cannot affect spiritual life, more like sleeping.
John 11: 11 -13
11. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12.His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
13. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Philippians 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.“
- “Best men” are willing to accept death, they understand it is just a transition from life to everlasting life. They are the “best men” because they live their life to fullest, accept the time that God has ordained for them, live without fear. View death as rest, not dreadful.
Thou’art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
- Death is just a tool, not autonomous
- If we are no longer afraid of death, we are no longer afraid of those who use it against us
- Romans 8: 31 – “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
– the results of sin, personified and inhabitants of hell? death keeps lowly companions. Temporarily have power over the earth because of sin, but will soon pass away.
– Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
And poppy’or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then?
- Death does not have the upper hand, even when we ourselves want rest and peace, we do not have to resort to death. Poppy, charms, (drugs, other things that bring comfort), etc. can help us deal with pain, and sadness.
- Rebuttal of death’s pride. Death is not the only option.
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
- emphasizes the temporary aspect of death
- “short sleep” contrasts with “wake eternally.”
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
1 Corinthians 15:26 – “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
- Death is ultimate result of sin. Sin shall be destroyed as well as death, sickness, war, pain etc.
– Revelation 21:4 (see above).
Death dies a spiritual death – eternal. It is a spiritual concept, cannot die physically, only can die eternally.
Rhyme scheme
abba abba abba cc
- first 8 lines (octave), envelope rhymes, talking about more positive aspects of death, defensive
- last 6 lines (sestet), direct condemnation, offensive
Okay let’s see…I read Book 5 awhile ago, so basing off my notes let’s see if I can give an accurate rundown.
Satan is on Mount Niphates and experiences a ‘mental breakdown’ of sorts. He reflects on how he came to be in such a miserable state.
Milton again begins with a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help him tell the story of things invisible to man. He then tells about God watching Satan heading towards Earth.
First of all, a correction about my 
Paradise Lost was written by John Milton and published as 12 books in 1667. Here are some notes from Book 1, with the lines numbered for reference.
I’m quite an amatuer, but can’t go anywhere unless you start somewhere, right? My goal is to eventually be able to write poems with more rules, like sonnets. Stuff like this will have to do for now…neither have titles yet.
I’m confused though. Is this all Roman mythology? Or Greek mythology? Or Romanized Greek mythology? Or all of the above? Ovid was a Roman after all. Ummm…whatever.
Ovid has definitely got a lot cooler once I got past Amores, which was all about sex. Now I’m into Metamorphosis which is about all the Greek and Roman gods and jazz, which is totally awesome. It includes the story of Jupiter sending a flood to destroy man, but for the two survivors, Decalion and Pyrrhus, Narcissus falling in love with his own reflection (which is where we get the term “narcissistic”), the origin of echos, Pyramus and Thisbe (which Shakespeare used in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Arachne being turned into a spider by the jealous Athene (which I assume is where we get the word “arachnid”). Totally neat, though I must say a great many of the gods are so flippin’ immature and temperamental. Honestly.
