Oh Death Where Is Your Sting? : An Analysis of John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud."
In John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud" the author applies personification to Death but he also provides information about him that will change what we believe about Death, even in this day and age. This particular form of personification allows the speaker to talk down to Death as if he were a tangible being that is capable of feelings and emotions. The entire poem is basically just putting Death down and making sure that he understands his "place" outside of God's kingdom. Donne tells Death that he has no place in this world because God has already defeated him and in the end of all days, God will defeat him once again and this time, for good. Critics have approached this poem in a similar way by stating Donne's beliefs about Death and the afterlife while comparing them to what Donne has stated in his sermons and previous poetry. They believe that if we truly understand how Donne thought about Death, life, and heaven then we would truly begin to understand all of Donne's literary work. This analysis will ultimately take a deeper look into the beliefs of John Donne and link it to what he portrays in this poem and others that he has worked on in the past so that the readers might be able to understand how this affects us today.
John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud" could be considered a Holy sonnet or, at least, a Christian poem that is centered on both satire and scripture. 1 Corinthians 15:26 states the main idea of the poem and allows the reader to take a deeper look into the scriptures and the poem itself. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (Vance, 96). The verse suggests that after the Great War and tribulation that takes place in Revelation, that death will be destroyed along with the last of sin and unholy mankind. Donne was an amazing preacher for his time and he had a particular way of looking at God. His creative insight allowed him to see God and Death through a lense that others in his age might not have been able to see had Donne not been a poet as well as a teacher of God's word. Writers tend to see the world in a different way than everyone else; they are more insightful and introverted making them keen to details that others might not see. This is what Donne also possessed and it helped him in the long run. In this particular poem, the critics applaud Donne's bravery in his willingness to talk down to death the way he does and his steadfast loyalty to the faith. He points out that most people, even Christians, fear death because they believe that because he has the power to bring people to experience their final moments that makes him the mightiest in the world. What they do not realize or understand is that death is simply a pawn to God and a "slave to destiny" meaning he has no power of his own (Patel, 262). In other words, he doesn't do anything outside of God's will and when he does it's because God gave us free will enabling us to have virtually the same power over death. Donne's major point in this poem is to reassure his congregation and his readers of God's omnipotence and to basically say that death's power over humanity is nothing when compared to the awesomeness of God; his time on Earth is fleeting. Listen to the way Patel said it in his essay "He attempts to convince his readers not to be afraid of death as death is not powerful at all but actually it is weak and servile" (262). The only reason death has any power is because we allow him to become the supreme fear in our lives. If we have faith that God will restore us then we should fear death no more and it is the Christian's job to spread the good news to the rest of the world. If death had the power that humans think he does then Jesus died on the cross for nothing and that is not what Donne believes so it makes sense that he is very adamant to drive this point home.
What Donne believed in his life also contributes to how he viewed Death. Donne was Christian and a very blunt one at that. He was not afraid to speak the truth that he believed and he spoke it violently. For example, the way he viewed sin within the soul was very interesting. He used this parable to represent his thoughts "...the soul begins in the tree of knowledge...later, the soul enters an elephant, which is killed by a mouse. After the mouse crawled up the elephant's trunk and gnawed its nerves apart, killing itself in the process" (D'Addario, 436). This view of sin also influences his view of death because as the reader can see, the mouse represents death. In the end, the mouse kills the elephant's physical body and also kills itself. After the body dies and the soul goes to heaven, death loses its power therein killing itself. Every Christian who is brought up in the faith knows that God trumps death. It is stated in the Bible that Jesus defeated the grave, "Where O Death, is your victory? Where O Death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (New International Version, 1 Corinthians 15;55-57). Therefore using Jesus Christ as our example, one can safely assume that after the physical body dies, as does its ability to succumb to death . Thus , by extension, death dies. This explains Donne's cry of victory at the end of the poem and the prediction of Death's demise. From the moment that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he defeated the grave rendering death powerless. Even though people die, Donne wants his readers to know that has killed them; it was just God calling them home. He wants his readers to feel at peace with the concept of death because in his eyes, it is a reason for rejoicing instead of an occasion for sorrow.
In other analysis' , critifcs view this as a call for us to defeat death, which is impossible by biblical standards. They use Donne's previous sermons and work off of them. For example, in one of his sermons Donne leans off of the following verse from Job 5:7: "Man is born into trouble."Although, Donne gets creative with it like he is famous for doing. He translates it "Man is born into labor" (Reeder 29). He's saying that from the moment humans are born, they have work that needs to be done both in the spiritual sense and the worldly sense. Likewise, from the moment we are born things are expected of us and it only grows as we progress in life and take on more responsibilities in work, church, and family. The critics surmise that through Donne, God is saying from the moment we are born He has a plan for us and we are expected, or at least He hopes, that the person will make it their priority to follow His plan for us. Because like a father he wants only the best for us in life and after death. When death kills our earthly bodies God sees that as a victory and He rejoices because death is at His beck and call. Basically, Donne tells the audience that Death is not as mighty as we would like to believe. In fact, death is weak and he will not triumph in the end of all days nor does he triumph in the days of men.
Other critics choose to focus on the whole of Donne's poetry, not just this one. Christopher D'Addario explains, "Numerous critics have noted in Donne's lyrics an intense focus on the moment"(D'Addario 435). They say that Donne basically just explodes the moment or phrase and that is why he is so great. Although, some English professors might disagree. They might say that Donne is famous because of the way he sees the world and because of the way he refused to believe that he was left to fend for himself on this earth . In every single one of his Holy poems, Donne teaches the scripture through parable and personal experience; this one is no exception. He clearly states Death's defeat and attributes the victory to God. In the poem he say "Why swellest thou then?/ One short sleep past, we wake eternally/ and death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die!" (Donne, 12). Basically, Donne is saying why should death be proud? He claims credit for something that is not his doing. He simply puts us into a deep slumber until we wake up in heaven and live forever from there on. Then after the time of tribulation is at an end and all of God's people are gathered up in the rapture, God vanquishes him forevermore because He will have no need for him. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (New International Version, Revelation 21:4). All of the things that hurt us, will vanquish once we reach heaven and this includes death.
This poem, not unlike Donne's other poems, is known for its almost satirical nature. Patel states this wonderfully. "Donne's poetry is mainly noted for its variety of subjects, vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor. He employed novelty of thoughts, paradoxes , puns and subtle analogies, which help his works to be labeled as witty. His writings often carried ironic and cynical elements especially regarding human love and motives" (Patel, 2661). This poem is no exception. The way Donne sets this poem up is incredibly thought provoking and almost beckons the reader or the critic to look deeper within the text and find the double meaning that he has so cleverly hidden from view. He challenges his readers to know God more thoroughly and to keep wanting to know him despite what the world may say about him. Mark says it perfectly, "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." (New International Version, Mark 8:29) This is the question that this poem ultimately asks "Who do you think I am?" Does the reader believe that He is the Messiah like Peter did and that He is capable of defeating death? Donne believed that with all of his heart and he never stopped believing it. That is the reason he went into ministry after all his years of addiction to sex. He could have kept going on like nothing was wrong but he knew in his heart that this wasn't the life that he was meant to lead. God still wanted him to become the leader of a church and to spread His word to the rest of the world . In a way, Donne still remains faithful to that mission, even in death. He still speaks through the text and readers have much to learn from him especially in these troubling times. Not all of his doctrine is perfect and not everyone will agree with what he had to say because truth is often hard to hear. But for those who want to learn and are willing to listen, his works are widely available.
References
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The New International Version. Ed. Harper Collins, New York: Doubleday, 1985. Print.