Death Be Not Proud
Death Be Not Proud is a poem by John Donne, one of the most renowned metaphysical poets of English Literature. Written in 1610 and first published posthumously in 1633, it deals with death's powerlessness over life and its ultimate insignificance. The title itself is an allusion to Shakespeare's play Hamlet; however, unlike Hamlet, who was fearful of death, Donne takes a more positive stance on mortality—he sees it as merely an end rather than something to be feared or dreaded.
The poem consists of five quatrains written in iambic pentameter. In these verses, Donne expresses his conviction that death can never gain mastery over life and will eventually succumb to God's power: "One short sleep past, we wake eternally/ And Death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die" (lines 13–14). He further argues that although men are scared of dying due to their fear of the unknown afterlife awaiting them beyond this world—which they believe would bring them either pleasure or pain depending upon their deeds—they should not dread it since ultimately everything belongs to God: "All are but parts of one stupendous whole/ Whose body Nature is... / Thou art slave/ To Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men" (lines 15–20). Thus, according to him, if people accept the fact that whatever happens has been predetermined by a higher authority, then there should be nothing left for them to worry about after death arrives.
By presenting such compelling arguments against fearing death through poetic imagery and metaphors combined with philosophical reasoning, Donne manages to make us reflect on our own attitudes towards mortality while also reminding us how transient our lives really are when compared with eternity. As such, Death Be Not Proud remains one of the greatest works ever written about human mortality, both from a literary as well as a spiritual perspective.