| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | VIII. Victory
Death | | By John Donne (1572–1631) |
| | | DEATH, be not proud, though some have callèd thee | |
| Mighty and dreadful, for thou art 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, | 5 |
| Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow; | |
| And soonest our best men with thee do go, | |
| Rest of their bones and souls’ delivery! | |
| Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, Kings, and desperate men, | |
| And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, | 10 |
| 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! | | | | |
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