Read the Following Verse From a Famous Sonnet by John Donne
| Sonnet X. "Death be non proud" | |
|---|---|
| by John Donne | |
| Portrait of John Donne | |
| Written | between February and August 1609 |
| Commencement published in | Songs and Sonnets (1633) |
| Country | Kingdom of England |
| Series | Holy Sonnets |
| Subject(s) | Christianity, Bloodshed, Resurrection, Eternal Life |
| Genre(s) | religious poetry, devotional poetry |
| Form | Sonnet |
| Rhyme scheme | abba abba cddcee |
| Lines | fourteen |
| Read online | Sonnet X. "Death be not proud" at Wikisource |
"Sonnet X", likewise known by its opening words as "Death Be Not Proud", is a 14-line verse form, or sonnet, by English poet John Donne (1572–1631), 1 of the leading figures in the metaphysical poets grouping of seventeenth-century English literature. Written between February and August 1609, it was first published posthumously in 1633.
Information technology is included every bit 1 of the 19 sonnets that contain Donne's Holy Sonnets or Divine Meditations, among his all-time-known works. Most editions number the poem equally the tenth in the sonnet sequence, which follows the order of poems in the Westmoreland Manuscript (circa 1620), the most complete arrangement of the cycle, discovered in the tardily nineteenth century. However, 2 editions published shortly after Donne'south death include the sonnets in a different order, where this verse form appears as eleventh in the Songs and Sonnets (published 1633) and sixth in Divine Meditations (published 1635).
"Decease Be Not Proud" presents an argument against the power of death. Addressing Death every bit a person, the speaker warns Decease against pride in his power. Such ability is merely an illusion, and the end Death thinks it brings to men and women is in fact a rest from world-weariness for its alleged "victims." The poet criticizes Death as a slave to other forces: fate, risk, kings, and drastic men. Death is not in command, for a diverseness of other powers exercise their volition in taking lives. Even in the residue it brings, Death is junior to drugs. Finally, the speaker predicts the end of Death itself, stating "Expiry, k shalt die." [1]
Poem [edit]
"Holy Sonnets 10"
Death be non proud, though some accept called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom m recall'st, thou dost overthrow,
Dice not, poore expiry, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our all-time men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.
Grand art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe besides,
And better than thy stroake; why not bad'st thou so?
I curt sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And decease shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.[2]
Donne suffered a major illness that brought him close to death during his eighth twelvemonth as an Anglican minister. The illness may have been typhoid fever, but in recent years it has been shown that he may accept had a relapsing fever in combination with other illnesses.
The sonnet has an ABBA ABBA CDDC EE rhyme scheme ("eternalLY" is meant to rhyme with "Dice").
The last line alludes to 1 Corinthians fifteen:26: "The final enemy that shall be destroyed is expiry".
The poem's opening words are echoed in a contemporary verse form, "Death be not proud, thy mitt gave not this accident", sometimes attributed to Donne, but more likely by his patron Lucy Harington Russell, Countess of Bedford.
Notable use in pop culture [edit]
Death Be Not Proud (1949) by John Gunther, is a memoir of his son'due south struggle with — and ultimately death from — a encephalon tumor.
"Death Be Not Proud" was partially recited by Jason Miller as Patient Ten in the film The Exorcist III.
The commencement two and last two lines of "Expiry Be Non Proud" are recited by Paladin in The Prophet (Episode 16, Season 3 of Take Gun - Will Travel).
The poem was set up for voice and piano by Benjamin Britten equally the terminal song in his song cycle The Holy Sonnets of John Donne.
In the Pulitzer Prize–winning play Wit by Margaret Edson (and the picture show adaptation with Emma Thompson), the sonnet plays a cardinal office.
The outset ii lines are recited at the first of the title runway to Children of Bodom'southward third anthology Follow the Reaper.
The poem is recited in its entirety by Kenneth Branagh at the end of Episode 4 of the 1987 BBC series Fortunes of War, post-obit the death of one of the main characters.
The championship of the 1981 hostage drama picture show Kings and Drastic Men starring Patrick McGoohan, Alexis Kanner and Margaret Trudeau is taken from the poem and McGoohan recites part of it in the picture.
In The Simpsons episode "HOMR," Homer Simpson mentions reading the poem.
Plot keystone, and last lines, in the 1984 film The Hitting.
In Inside No. 9, Serial five, episode "Death Be Not Proud", the last two lines are recited.
References [edit]
- ^ "Analysis of John Donne'due south Death Be Not Proud". Slideshare.cyberspace . Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ Donne, John (1912). Grierson, Herbert J. C. (ed.). The Poems of John Donne. Vol. 1. London: Oxford Academy Press. p. 326.
Sources [edit]
- Schaper, Arthur. "Verse Analysis: 'Death Be Not Proud' By John Donne". Classical Poets, 2013. Accessed 24 Feb 2020.
Further reading [edit]
- John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, ed. by Anthony Raspa (Montreal: McGill-Queen's Academy Press, 1975), xii–fourteen.
- Charles Thousand. Bury's ed. Donne's poetry, The Consummate Poesy and Selected Prose of John Donne (New York: The Modern Library, 1952
External links [edit]
- "Decease Be Not Proud" in Representative Poetry Online
- http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/DeathBe.html
- http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15836
-
Decease Exist Not Proud public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Be_Not_Proud
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