Death, Be not Proud by John Donne Complete Summary With Short Questions & MCQs

1. In The Name Of
Allah, The Most
Merciful & The Most
Beneficial

2. Presented By:
Faizan Ahmad Rao

3. Presented To:
Ma’am Saimaan

4. Subject:
Classical Poetry

5. Topic:
Holy Sonnets: Death,
be not proud
BY JOHN DONNE

6. DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
This poem was written by John Donne ( 1572-1631) who
is considered a metaphysical poet in the Elizabethan
period.
Metaphysical poets analyzed love, religion and life from a
psychological point of view.

7. Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
The speaker is addressing death as a person. He is saying to him that
don’t be proud of you. People may think that you are very strong and
powerful. But actually you are not so. You are not so dreadful. You are
not so terrible. You don’t have any powers or quality to do terrible
things. The poet says that people are mistaken that you can do
anything because you are nothing in real. Then he addresses death,
saying that death is poor thing even though he cannot destroy or
kill him.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (1-2)

8. For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
•Those people whom you think that you have killed them. They
didn’t die actually. You can’t kill me as well. Because in Christianity
people believe that they get new life after die. He says that those
people about whom you think you have killed them they didn’t die
actually. Because they are still alive in here after. And that’s why you
can’t kill me as well.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (3-4)

9. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
•Rest and sleep are nothing but your pictures. As these two are
pleasurable things so you are also supposed to give us more
pleasure.
•In these lines the poet is comparing death with rest and sleep. In
these lines poet is criticizing death as you know rest and sleep are
the things which are not so dangerous so you are also not so
dangerous.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (5-6)

10. And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
.
•Our best men departs from this world and go with you very soon, to
provide rest to their bones and to free their souls from the pains of this
world. These best men are the soldiers & martyrs who sacrifice their
lives for the nation, humanity or for any good reason. So the die young
and they departs from this life very early to rest their bones and souls.
They worked hard and now they have opportunity for rest.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (7-8)

11. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
•You are a slave of fate, chance, kings and desperate men. You live
with poison, war and sickness.
•Here the poet is taunting death as a slave of fate, chance, kings
and desperate men by telling death a slave of these things. The
poet want to say death is not something which is free. Death is not
something which can do anything. Because death is manipulated
and controlled by these thing and it couldn’t do anything with his
wish. Death is just carrying the orders from these things. Because
chance is the main cause of death, like someone who dies in
sudden accident, so there’s a chance. Kings send his soldiers in
battle to kill the people, so death is controlled by the king.
Desperate men kill themselves by suicciding and the death is slave
of these desperate men.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (9-10)

12. And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
•Here the poet says that we don’t need you. He says who need you
any more? If anyone want to really sleep, he can use drugs, he can
use magic charms, he can use opium to take rest. So there is no
need of you. He says that drugs and opium's can make us sleep in
better way than of you. So you have lift nothing to feel proud.
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (11-12)

13. One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
•After sleeping for a very short duration of time we will wake again
and will live eternally. Death himself will die then he will exist no
more.
•So in Christianity, people believe that after death, they will get a
new life, they will get a eternal life. They will go to heaven after
die. So this is what the poet is talking about that death is just a
short sleep and after that we will wake and we will live eternally.
Death shall be no more, death shall die himself and will not exist
anymore.
And death, in the other life, will have no place for him and he shall
be finished .
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Line (13-14)

14. This Holly Sonnet presents an argument
against the power of death .
The poet addresses Death as a person . He
gives physical characteristics to inanimate
idea or concept .

15. Mighty: powerful
Thee: you
Delivery: to reach freedom
Slave: servant
Fate: destiny
Desperate: one who feds up
Dost: does
Sickness: ill
Poppy: red flower which gives us opium
Charms: different ways of putting person to sleep
Stroke: attack
Swell: to become big
Eternally: forever
Shalt: shall
MEANINGS OF WORDS

16. Abba / abba / abba / aa
In this sonnet, John Donne mix the
Shakespearian and the Petrarchan sonnet.
(Shakespearian, according to the division –
Petrarchan, according to the rhyme scheme.
THE, RHYME SCHEME

17. The poem is full of Alliteration:
Line 1: though –thee
Line 3: those –thou
Line 4: die –death / canst –kill
Line 6: much –more - must / then –thee /
from –flow
Line 10: dost –dwell / with –war Line
12: than –thy / thou –then Line
13: one –we –wake
Line 14: death –die / shall - shalt
FIGURE OF SPEECH:

18. He compares death to a slave
Metaphor with personification: Death, be not
proud.
He compares death to a person who is proud
Donne ends the poem with paradox and irony:
Death, thou shalt die.
METAPHOR:

19. Death is given negative human traits: pride mainly
Death is likened to sleep, a commonplace image
Poppy and charms refer to the use of opium and
magic to produce sleep, or to produce a gentle
death.
Poppy is metonymy , it is what is derived from the
poppy that is the opiate, not literally the flower
itself
PERSONIFICATION
METONYMY

20. Donne’s theme tells the reader that death has
no right to be proud.
This poem is a metaphysical poem:
It deals with human experience as much of the
poetry that was written during those time.
However, the poets of the era being intelligent
and educated meant that the poetry they wrote
would tackle the profound areas of experience.

21. DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Short Questions
Q.1 Into what religion was John Donne born?
Ans. Roman Catholicism
Q.2 From what group of poems is Death be
not proud part of?
Ans. Holly Sonnets
Q.4 What according to the poet, what are the
agents of death?
Ans. Poison, war and sickness are the agents of
death.
Q.3 What does the image of ‘slave” suggests?
Ans. The image of slave suggests that death is
not powerful, fearful or dreadful. It cannot do
any harm to others, it is like only a slave who
has to obey the commands of fate, kings and
desperate people.
Q.6 Why does the poet ask death not to be
proud?
Ans. The poet ask death not to be proud as he
thinks that death is or powerful fearful or
dreadful. Though some people called it mighty
and dreadful but it not so. So death should not
feel any proud of itself.
Q.5 What does the death live with?
Ans. Death lives in the bad company of posion
war and sickness.

22. DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
Short Questions
Q.7 How does the poet compare death with
rest and sleep?
Ans. The poet says that rest and sleep are the
pictures of death both give us much joy.
Therefore, the original of these pictures must
be source of pleasure.
Q.8 Why do our best men go with so soon?
Ans. Death gives rest to their bones and make
their souls free from system. That is why our
best men go with death so on.
Q.9 What things can make us sleep as well as
death?
Ans. Poppy and charm can make us sleep as
well as death.
Q.10 Explain the following expression ‘death
thou shalt die’ ?
Ans. Death can kill only bodies. After death,
our bones get rest and our soul gets freedom.
According to the poet after death the soul of a
man goes to heaven. An din heaven everything
is permanent and deathless. So death itself will
die.

23. DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
MCQ’s
1. Death, thou shalt die” is an example of :
a) Allusion
b) Aphorism
c) Assonance
d) Apostophe
3. Which statement illustrates Donne’s use
of paradox?
a) Death, thou shalt die
b) Like gold to airy thinness beat.” Assonance
c) “Like gold to airy thinness beat.”
d) “Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.”
2. Death is ridiculed in Holy Sonnet 10
(“Death, be not proud, though some have
called thee”) because the poet?
a) is a desperate man.
b) will wake in eternity
c) is strong and fearsome.
d) will enjoy the pleasure of sleep.
4. Which of the following phrases best
describes the speaker’s attitude after the
phrase, “ Die not, poor Death, not canst
thou kill me.”?
a) frightened and upset
b) Rebellious and confident
c) is strong and fearsome.
d) will enjoy the pleasure of sleep.

24. DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
MCQ’s
5. Who is the narrator of "Death Be Not
Proud"?
(a) Johnny Gunther.
(b) James Gunther.
(c) Frances Gunther.
(d) John Gunther.
6. What type of sonnet is the poem ‘Death Be
Not Proud"?
(a) Shakespearean
(b) American.
(c) Petrarchan.
(d) English.
8. What is the rhyme scheme for the poem
"Death Be Not Proud"?
(a) ABBAABBACDDCEE
(b) ABABABABCDCCDC
(c) AABBAABBCCDDCC
(d) CDDCCDDCABBABB
7. In the sonnet "Death, Be Not proud",
Donne says to death: "Those whom thou
think'st thou dost over-throw / Die not, poor
death, nor yet canst thou kill me." What does
he mean?
A. Death is very strong.
B. Death is not death, because after death we
wake up to live eternally.
C. One must face death courageously and
defiantly.
D. Death is not as strong as he thinks he is.

25. THANK YOU