Poems: Same Words Different Meaning The opportunity for this project was presented by the teacher. Due to this project, as some say being forced upon the students, students were assigned one to multiple poems. “Death, be not proud” and “Meditation 17” by John Donne are both literary works that have progressed to meaning of English Literature. “Death, be not proud” is a poem that symbolizes Death being unable to corrupt the eternal soul. Taking one look at this poem, someone might never have noticed that the speaker was talking directly to Death. First, the speaker starts off by speaking directly to Death himself (line 1). People give Death his power by saying he is “Mighty and dreadful,” (line 2) but according to the speaker Death cannot kill him. Although people give Death his confidence, by the speaker saying the verb “overthrow” (line 3) it downgrades Death from killing those who give him power to helping fate kill those of no fear. Death is now being pitied when the speaker says in line 4, “poor Death.” As rest and sleep play a role in the poem, Death are those two pleasures of life, which now make him a pleasure when life is at an end. Likewise, Death not only is compared to the pleasures of life, he is portrayed as a slave to everything that kills but himself. Finally, the speakers last words in lines 13 through 14 acquire the meaning that Death is to be worried about dying and being forgotten. “Death, be not proud” feels as though it’s a gloomy setting because