Assignment on Paper -01

Paper -01 Renaissance Literature

' Death Be Not Proud '

Paper Number :01 Renaissance Literature 

Prepared By : Sima Rathod 

M.A. Sem.: 01

Batch :2019 - 21

Email Id :rsima144@gmail.com

Enrollment No :2069108420200034

Submitted To : S. B. Gardi English Department, MKBU 

Introduction:

Death Be Not Proud  is a well known Sonnet by John Donne. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne's style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. In the first half of the 17th century, a group of poets emerged whose poetry Is known as the Metaphysical poetry since JOHN DONNE was the pioneer of these group, It is also known as the "SCHOOL OF DONNE" GEORGE HERBERT, RICHARD CRASHAW, ABRAHAM COWLEY, ANDREW MARWELL AND ROBERT SOUTHWELL, this poets tried to followed the style of writing poetry which was initially cultivated by JOHN DONNE. It was SAMUEL JOHNSON who first used the word Metaphysical for the poetry of John Donne and his school. When SAMUEL JOHNSON used the word "METAPHYSICAL", it was in a negative sense. He said that, "their poetry stood trial of their finger but not of their ear"(they remained successful in displaying their scholarship but they failed in giving rhythm and music to their poetry). With the passing of Tim the Sam term became a term of appraisal. Today their poetry is praised as the Metaphysical poetry.

♣ CHARACTERISTICS OF METAPHYSICAL POETRY :

🔷 FAR - FETCHED IMAGES:

            Far - Fetched images is one of the most important features of Metaphysical Poetry. They never tried to use and express their images from those fields which have nothing to do with the theme of their poems, so the are called far - Fetched images. The best examples are, The Church Porch, The Pully.

🔷PLATONIC LOVE :

          Platonic love is another feature of Metaphysical Poetry, it means spiritual love, which is free from elements of physical love. Death Be Not Proud ,  The Sun Rising are best examples of Platonic Love.

🔷LITERARY DEVICES :

             Metaphysical poets uses metaphors, puns, paradoxes and meters to create drama and tension. They also uses scientific, medical and phrases to create arguments about the philosophical aspects of life or to express love and tension. For example,

Donne used Flea as the symbol of love in his poem The Flea.

🔷UNIQUENESS :

             Metaphysical Poets were men of high intellect. They were all graduated from OXFORD O CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. With the help of their vast knowledge, they presented new ideas and stories to their readers.

 'Death Be Not Proud ': 

The Sonnet 'Death Be Not Proud ' is addressed by the poet to Death itself. The attempt of the port is to nullify fear of Death by writing about it in just 14 lines. 

      Generally most of people consider death as Mighty and dangerous, frightening and very painful Experience of  life. But the poet reacts altogether in a different way to Death. In the very first opening stanza the port clarifies that the death is neither mighty nor dreadful.  Death it self may think that it ends the life of the people but in reality those people do not die, Death can never end eternal life of people. The poet considers Death as nothing more then transitory pause in the eternal life. He believes that Death is nothing more than rest and peaceful sleep . If the poet has to draw Picture of Death, he would draw the picture of a person enjoying sound sleep and rest. That means Death offers sleep and rest to mankind. So a great pleasure should be derived from Death. 

       The poet tries to nullify fear of Death by giving Example of the best of people,  even the best of people have gone with Death. The earliest which in itself is a proof that Death can not be dreadful or painful. The poet acquaints the readers with certain dwelling places of Death. It's favorite dwelling places are poison, war and sickness.  The presence of these three have in theme the presence of Death. The poet considers Death nothing more than a slave of four elements. Death has to come or follow command of these four elements. Those four elements are :

Fate, 

Chance ,

King, 

Desperate Men. 

        Here the poet tries to convey that, when fate decides Death has to come,  when chance decides Death has to come, when the king declares Death penalty Death has to come and finally when a man in distress decides to end his life by killing himself, Death has to come. This is how Death has to come. This is how Death is slave of four elements and Follows their command. 

         The poet can say with confidence that Death has no courage or capacity to kill even him. Death is nothing more than permanent rest to bones, body and soul. The poet makes a comparison between hoe sleep is caused by Death and by the charm of a mother. Death causes sleep in a single stroke whereas charm of a mother causes sleep in a slow and gradual way. So there is no need for Death to be proud. It is just a small sleep after which a person gets up eternally in a new form with a new body. If Death is Accepted and received in such a manner, it would be the death of Death itself and there will never be frightening effect of Death. 

Conclusion :

     Thus, the present sonnet of Donne confirms Donne's belief in the theory of rebirth, when he talks about waking up eternally after a long, deep and peaceful sleep. It is nothing but his belief in rebirth. John Donne's poem 'Death Be Not Proud' is a masterful argument against the power of Death. The theme, or the message of the poem is that Death is not some all-powerful being that humans should fear. Instead, Death is actually a slave to the human race and has no power over our souls.We can say that here Donne wants to convey the message that  Only the Body Dies the Soul remains eternal.Donne says "Death, thou shalt die.”