Death be not Proud
‘Death be not proud’ – Sonnet X (Holy Sonnets by John Donne)
Donne’s dilemma – ‘caught between the active vocation of Catholicism and the predestination of Calvinism’. What can one do, if anything, to influence God’s final judgement? (Helen Wilcox).
Context – religious, historical
Biblical theme – (Corinthians 1.15.55) Paul – after a passage discussing Christ’s victory over death – ‘O death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?’
Donne’s ‘Meditation xvii’ – Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.
Sonnet (Petrarchan) form – but breaks with the usual form. Rather than love of a woman, it is love of (devotion) God. Uses the octave, sestet and marked turn (volta).
Biblical precedent – Jacob who ‘wrestled’ all night with God and would not let God go until he received a blessing. (Genesis 32.24-30)
Context and values – social, personal (religious)
Sermon/preacher/intellectual – dramatic voice
Conceits – intellectual/courtly/popular and clever way of communicating in society. Also representative of his intellect/mind which he uses to attempt to understand God, faith and salvation.
Paradox and contrast - reflective of the paradoxes of religion and science, discovery and fear etc.
Echoes of martyrdom – the best men go willingly? “our best men with thee doe goe”.
Donne as an intellect and preacher (theatrical/dramatic, wits and conceits). Intellectualises Also reflective of the times. Witty repartee in court, questioning of values, religion, science – inquisitive. Renaissance. Time of exploration.
Christian context (religious) – Resurrection, whereby death becomes, in fact, birth into eternal life.
‘Kings’ – plurality. Reflective of Donne’s generation of criticism of the world of the court emerges.
Donne’s personal battle and dilemma with Catholicism versus Protestantism. The question of how to achieve salvation.
Arguments in the poem
Sets up argument that death should not be proud of being ‘Mighty and dreadful’ (Fearful and powerful words)
Donne’s dilemma – ‘caught between the active vocation of Catholicism and the predestination of Calvinism’. What can one do, if anything, to influence God’s final judgement? (Helen Wilcox).
Context – religious, historical
Biblical theme – (Corinthians 1.15.55) Paul – after a passage discussing Christ’s victory over death – ‘O death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?’
Donne’s ‘Meditation xvii’ – Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.
Sonnet (Petrarchan) form – but breaks with the usual form. Rather than love of a woman, it is love of (devotion) God. Uses the octave, sestet and marked turn (volta).
Biblical precedent – Jacob who ‘wrestled’ all night with God and would not let God go until he received a blessing. (Genesis 32.24-30)
Context and values – social, personal (religious)
Sermon/preacher/intellectual – dramatic voice
Conceits – intellectual/courtly/popular and clever way of communicating in society. Also representative of his intellect/mind which he uses to attempt to understand God, faith and salvation.
Paradox and contrast - reflective of the paradoxes of religion and science, discovery and fear etc.
Echoes of martyrdom – the best men go willingly? “our best men with thee doe goe”.
Donne as an intellect and preacher (theatrical/dramatic, wits and conceits). Intellectualises Also reflective of the times. Witty repartee in court, questioning of values, religion, science – inquisitive. Renaissance. Time of exploration.
Christian context (religious) – Resurrection, whereby death becomes, in fact, birth into eternal life.
‘Kings’ – plurality. Reflective of Donne’s generation of criticism of the world of the court emerges.
Donne’s personal battle and dilemma with Catholicism versus Protestantism. The question of how to achieve salvation.
Arguments in the poem
Sets up argument that death should not be proud of being ‘Mighty and dreadful’ (Fearful and powerful words)