"Divine Sonnet X" Analysis

"Divine Sonnet X," or "Death Be Not Proud," is one of 19 poems that form the "Divine Meditations," otherwise known as the "Holy Sonnets," written by English poet John Donne in the early 1600s. Donne is among the artists known as metaphysical poets, because of his exploration of spiritual themes using both an emotional and intellectual perspective. A devout Catholic turned Anglican preacher, Donne wrote the "Holy Sonnets" during a personally tumultuous time.

Tone and Personification

The speaker in "Divine Sonnet X" directly addresses a personified figure of death, repeatedly using imperative verbs to put death in its place, so to speak. Repeated commands such as "death, be not proud" and "death, thou canst kill me" convey a stern, resolved tone and a determined speaker. The line "thou canst kill me" seems to explain the speaker's resolve, as if the speaker himself is facing death, and therefore warding off his own fears by reminding death of its powerlessness over him.

Sonnet Form

"Divine Sonnet X," like many of Donne's poems, utilizes a version of the Petrarchan Sonnet: it contains 14 lines divided into three, four-line stanzas and one ending couplet, with a rhyme scheme of "abbaabbacddcaa." There is a pattern of enjambment, in which the speaker's sentences continually spill over one line to the next, rather than ending neatly with each line break. This has the effect of enhancing the speaker's authority over the figure of death, since the enjambments force the listener to pay closer attention.

Rhyme and Sound, Beginning

The frequent use of enjambments gives "Divine Sonnet X" considerable rhythmic variation and slightly mutes the rhyme scheme of a traditional Petrarchan Sonnet. The first stanza is halting and heavily punctuated, with many stops and starts. This corresponds to the speaker's attempt to set limits with death on what it can and cannot do. The second stanza uses more fluid syntax. in accordance with the speaker's more hopeful thoughts on what happens to the "best men" when they die.

Rhyme and Sound, Ending

In the third stanza, the speaker falls into a rhythm as he gains confidence in his ability to surmount death, listing the whims that death is a "slave" to as well as the negative circumstances within which death "dwells." The middle of the last line contains an abrupt break, then ends with one final, monosyllabic phrase, "Death, thou shalt die." This rhythmic switch has the effect of emphasizing the sentiment that, when a man enters eternal life, death is the one that truly dies. The poem asserts that death was in fact the instrument of its own defeat, and emphasizes that death, itself, will die eternally after the Christian resurrection.