FREE John Donne's use of death Essay (original) (raw)

John Donne uses poetry to explore his own identity, express his feelings, and, most of all, he uses it to deal with the personal experiences occurring in his life. Donne's poetry is a confrontation or struggle to find a place in this world, or rather, a role to play in a society from which he often finds himself detached or withdrawn. This essay will discuss some elements of John Donne's biography and how the issue of death is brought about in his Holy Sonnet 10, commonly called, "Death be not proud".
John Donne was born into a prosperous Roman Catholic family in London in 1572. He was surrounded by many periods of grief in his lifetime. First, in 1576, Donne's father died suddenly and left three children to be raised by their mother, Elizabeth (Jokinen 1). Then, in 1593, Donne's younger brother Henry died of a fever in prison after being arrested for giving sanctuary to a proscribed Catholic priest (Jokinen 1). This incident made Donne question his faith and as a result, he converted to Anglicanism during the 1590s (Jalic 2). In 1601, John Donne secretly married seventeen-year-old Anne More (Jokinen 2) but then, a short sixteen years later, just as Donne's fortunes seemed to be improving, Anne Donne died, on August 15, 1617, aged thirty-three, after giving birth to their twelfth child, a stillborn. Sadly, only seven of their children survived their mother's death (Jokinen 3). Donne, now being obsessed with the idea of death, preached what was called his own funeral sermon, "Death's Duel", just a few weeks before he died in London on March 31, 1631 (Jokinen 3). .
These harsh experiences brought out a fascination with death in John Donne. "Death be not proud" is a short poem written in Shakespearian style, which deals with the timeless subject of death and dying. Donne uses this poem to express his view that death is not something to be feared, as it oftentimes is, and has been, since the beginning of time.

1. When Death Dies: John Donne

When Death Dies: John Donne's Positive Spin on Death Death is ordinarily viewed with a certain finality that causes it to be viewed negatively. However, John Donne refutes this common belief in his poem, "Death, be not proud". Although death is the end of mortal life, Donne establishes it as a positive occurrence resulting in eternalness. ... John Donne's final quatrain does more than just pronounce death's goodness but goes so far as to mock it. ... He's saying that people don't need death because they can use other methods to sleep such as drugs or magic. ...

2. John Donne

John Donne Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation 17 Ann's father, Sir George More, was furious when he became aware of the secret marriage. ... George More was a wealthy landowner, and immediately used his influence to have Donne jailed and dismissed from his position as Egerton's secretary. ... It was during this time period that Donne supposedly wrote his "sad letter to his Wife" that contained the following well known line: "John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done." ... Donne recorded his experience of Ann's death in a sonnet . ... After his wife's death, Donne'...

3. Interpretation of John Donne's

METAPHYSICAL CONCEITS IN DONNE"S "THE RELIC" In most, if not all, of his works, John Donne uses the concept of "metaphysical conceits" to extensively compare one thing to another. ... Donne typically uses the title of each of his works as a vehicle by which this conceit is portrayed (i.e., "The Flea") and thus creates a sort of double meaning for it. ... Donne uses this word to describe he and his lover after they are deceased. ... Donne uses this definition of the word to describe himself and his deceased lover. ... However, the second meaning of this word is how Donne uses it in the line...

4. John Donne And Metaphors

John Donne turns this tool into an art form in his poetry as he weaves absurd relationships between two or more seemingly unrelated ideas. ... One good example of Donne's use of absurd metaphors is in the poem entitled "The Flea". ... Donne's use of metaphors continues in the second stanza as the female is about to kill the flea. The death of the flea is portrayed as a tragic event, compared to killing three people at once. ... The third example of Donne effectively using metaphors to express his feelings is from "Holy Sonnet 14". ...

5. John Donne's World

John Donne created a metaphysical world where everyone is connected, eternality is different from immortality, and where death has no power. ... "And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.... A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning talks about how John Donne and his wife's love is like a compass, if one leans the other leans with it. ... That phrase brings into light one of Donne's biggest themes, we are all connected in some way shape or form. ... People don't tend to think about how we are all connected in a small way, so let's use the butterfly for an example. ...

6. John Donne - Woman's Constancy

The majority of the poem concentrates on the possible arguments a lover might use; giving the impression that Donne was bitter over this experience. ... "Readers of John Donne have long recognised the remarkable extent to which legal, theological, and medical vocabularies compete and overlap in his works." The same is true of "Woman's Constancy"; Donne's arguments are ingenious, utilising legal elements; such as oaths (which are not valid if taken under pressure), and the idea of "lovers contracts", which, while similar to that of marriage (whose contract is only broken at death), t...

7. Commentary on John Donne

The commentary of John Donne's poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" describes this piece as a poem of the speaker telling his lady not to weep if he is to never return from the journey he will be going on. ... Donne, in his poem, uses the imagery of the universe to compare and contrast his relationship to the relationships of others. For example the line "Dull Sublunary lovers" love" (Line 13) is used to show the people beneath the sphere of the moon, and those that are imperfect. He also uses such images death in comparing his departure from his lady to actually dying. ... However,...

8. Death, Be Not Proud

Title of Work: Death, be not proud Author: John Donne John Donne's Death, be not proud is a particularly interesting poem that expresses the act of dying as something natural and pleasant abandoning the reputation it has held for being frightening or powerful. ... Donne goes on the explain that both rest and sleep are like little copies of Death, and because they are pleasurable, therefore Death must be even more so. ... The idea that Death can die is startling and hard to imagine, but it makes sense in light of Donne's reasoning. ... Donne successfully used various ...

9. John Donne & Robert Herrick compare/contrast

Two authors, Robert Herrick and John Donne, have many similarities and differences within their work. ... Time has a completely different meaning when it comes to John Donne. ... The topic of death is strongly used to encourage the "carpe diem" theme. John Donne uses the topic of death in a different way. ... Each author uses death to describe unpleasant things. ...

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