English Grade 9

1. LEARNING COMPETENCIES
• analyze literature as a means of valuing
other people and their various
circumstances in life. (EN9LT-IIc-15)
• explain how the elements specific to a
genre contribute to the theme of a
particular literary selection. (EN9LT-IIc

2. DEATH, BE
NOT PROUD
By: John Donne

3. VOCABULARY
BUILDING
1.Mighty – powerful
2.Dreadful – frightful
3.Overthrow – to remove from
power specially by force
4.Eternally – everlasting
5.Stroke – beat

4. ABOUT THE
AUTHORJOHN DONNE
Born January 22, 1572 in London, England
Died March 31, 1631 at the age of 58
An English poet and a lawyer
Was the third child of six children
He is considered the pre-eminent
representative of the metaphysical poets.
His works are noted for their strong, sensual
style and includes sonnets, love poems and
religious poem.

5. BRIEF BACKGROUND OF
THE POEM
 Death,Be Not Proud is also known as
Sonnet X (Sonnet 10)
 It is a fourteen line poem
 It is written between February and
august 1609
 It was first published posthumously in
1633

6. 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 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.

7. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate
men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell.
And poppy of charms can make up 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.

8. LINES 1-4
This is essentially the main point of the entire
poem. Donne tells Death not to be proud. Some
people have called Death powerful, but Donne
claims death is not. Death may believe that he has
defeated those who die, but Donne states those
people do not truly die because their souls in the
afterlife. According to Donne and the poem, people
who die are only dead momentarily, then they live
along with all the spirits in Heaven. This is why
Donne claims Death cannot kill him.

9. LINES 5-8
 In line 5, the word pictures more closely means
images. In this way this line is stating that the image
of death looks just like a person who is sleeping,
which is actually a pleasurable event. Then Donne
admits that the best men on the planet must go
with Death at some point. However Donne claims
this is not a terrible thing at all. Death is merely
giving rest to their bones and delivering their souls
to the after life.

10. LINES 9-12
 The speaker kicks it up a notch, calling Death a
“slave” and accusing him of hanging out with those
lowlifes “poison, war and sickness.”