Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Quotes
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Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are 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 but 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.
Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us 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.
Context
This here is the opening phrase of John Donne's famous Holly Sonnet 10.
Right off the bat, the speaker starts talking smack to Death, whom he treats as a person (fancy term for this: apostrophe). But wait a sec. In the original version from 1633, the sonnet begins, "Death be not proud." The difference? There's no comma after death.
Might seem like a tiny difference, but "Death be not proud" could be read as "Death is not proud," which would rip us of possibly the most famous apostrophe (and comma?) in all of literature.
Check out our summary and analysis of the poem here.
Where you've heard it
If it sounds familiar, it's probably because it's one of the most famous lines of poetry ever. NBD.
It's also been the title of a book and has made its way onto some death-defying tattoos.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Pretentious? No way. This one is baller.