Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Themes
Mortality
The poem takes an assertive stand against mortality. It makes the paradoxical statement that mortality is itself mortal. In other words, death doesn’t exist in the long run. But, the speaker woul...
Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
The big dream and hope in the poem is to defeat Death and go to Heaven. The speaker is confident that his faith in God won’t let him down, but that’s the thing about faith: it doesnR...
Courage
We’ve got to admit it: we’re impressed. It takes real guts and chutzpah to stand up to Death. Throughout the entire length of the poem, the speaker never once drops his guard. In fact,...
Religion
Back in Donne’s day, the smartest, funniest, hippest writers – The Metaphysical Poets – are the ones who can talk about complex religious topics while letting fly with jokes, puns...