Comparing Poems 'Death And Be Not Proud'

When comparing “Death, be not proud” (John Donne) the most comparable poem was “Because I could not stop for death” (Emily Dickinson). These poems were obviously similar in using death as the topic however; they were also similar in their attitude toward death. Donne expresses that death isn’t as powerful as it thinks it is. Donne is saying that although Death (referring to death as a person) thinks he's something special, because he has the power to take life, really, he's not. Death isn’t special because he must take everyone whether they're kings or just regular men. So that means he's really a slave to every

The one poem that really glorifies death is, “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. In the poem it states, “Romeo and Juliet

The poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Death Be Not Proud" both deal with the subject of death. These poems seem to have contradictory messages about death, yet at the same time have similar attitudes toward it. "Death Be Not Proud" talks about how death really has no power over people, while "Do not go gentle into that good night" says that it is part of human nature to fight against death.

Death is a scary thing no one wants to think about it. But if you are a living thing and are human you will die.Everyone around you will die. Nothing that is alive around you today will last for ever. So when it’s time comes, you have to remember the good times and say your goodbyes. “Thanatopsis” written by William Cullen Bryant, “Don’t Fear The Reaper” written by Oyster Cult, “Dust In The Wind” written by Kansas. Each poem talks about death within the poem. They all look at life and death in different ways how to remember life with others around you, there point on when you die how your gone forever. Nobody knows what death is like because they haven’t experienced it. That explains why all three poems look at death differently.

Dickinson starts the first stanza of the poem with, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” (807). Clearly she was not ready to go, death simply took her by surprise and brought her busy life to a halt. This could be seen as a beautiful way to take on death because death is usually said in such a morbid tone and the fact she associated “kindly” with death makes it beautiful. The second line says, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – and Immortality” (Dickinson 807). The author emphasizes Carriage, Ourselves, and Immortality. Dickinson seems to be talking about her own death chariot and by immortality, she believes her death is not the end, but rather as a step to eternal life.

Finally in the final stanza of the poem, Dickinson remembers the horses in which she was being taken away when she died. The horses seem to be taking her into Eternity, basically an afterlife.

The tone in "Death, Be Not Proud" is confident and degrading of death. The narrator seems to poke fun at death's (clearly) invisible attempt at being threatening and dreadful by explaining the positive things about death and how it is nothing to be afraid of. The tone is forceful with its use of personification and alliteration by comparing death to a person: "Death, thou shalt die" and "Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me"(Donne). In "The Things They Carried" the O'Brien writes, "They carried the sky.

In addition to these three stages, the final stage of eternity was symbolized in the last two lines of the poem, the “Horses Heads” (23), leading “towards Eternity” (24). Dickinson fathomed the incomprehensible progression of life by unraveling its complexity with figurative symbols. Emily Dickinson dresses the scene such that mental pictures of sight, feeling, and sound come to life. The imagery begins the moment Dickinson invites Her reader into the “Carriage.” Death “slowly” takes the readers on a sight seeing trip where they see the stages of life. The first site “We” passed was the “School, where Children strove” (9). Because it deals with an important symbol, —the “Ring”—this first scene is perhaps the most important. One author noted that “the children, at recess, do not play (as one would expect them to) but strive” (Monteiro 20).

The poems of this time period are very similar. They all relate to the topic of death in a way, even though some of the poems look at death differently. Throughout the class, we have read three poems, including “don't fear the reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. This poem's message is to not fear death. The second poem was “Dust in the wind” by Kansas. Lastly, we read “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant. This author's message is that death is going to be okay as long as you live your life to the fullest The message given was that death is fine because you were not much of an impact in the world anyways. A majority of the poems we have read glorify the idea of death, but there is one poem that glorifies the idea of life.

To add, Dash’s essay “The portrayal of death in Donne’s ‘Death Be Not Proud’ and Jaroslav Seifert’s ‘The Mistress of the Poets’: a comparative study.” supports the idea that death appears to be a type of reward. The essay explains, “Donne’s appropriation of ‘rest and sleep,’ of which death is only a simulacrum, a travesty of no better grandeur, is further buttressed by the line: ‘And soonest our best men with thee do go’” (Dash 1). While using sharper language than in other texts it is clear what this quotation is attempting to convey.

“Death be not proud” by John Donne personifies death, as its title aptly prescribes. Giving death human traits allows the writer to blast him with colorful images full of sarcasm and a tone of defiance. The ultimate message of the author provokes the human soul to resist the fear of death.

Poems come in all different emotions, lengths, and arguments, just like John Donne’s poems, “Death Be Not Proud” and “The Flea”. The way that John creates his poems is very creative, he has a way that will make the reader second think what his lines really mean. Johns arguments will most likely always win, it is as if he plays mind games with the people in his poem, I would say he is convincing. The two poems that I read “The Flea”, and “Death Be Not Proud” both have very distinctive arguments and emotions which makes both poems unique. “Death Be Not Proud” John makes the speaker seem tough, brave, and not scared of what “death” might bring. In the poem “The Flea” the speaker is pictured as a beggar,

Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” are both written about life’s stopping point, death. Although the poems are written by the same poet, both poems view death in a different manner. Between the two poems, one views death as having an everlasting life while the other anticipates everlasting life, only to realize it does not exist. While both poems are about death, both poems also illustrate that the outcome of death is a mysterious experience that can only be speculated upon with the anticipation of everlasting life.

In “Death Be Not Proud” the speaker is a man who is lecturing his words to “death.” In lines 1-2 the speaker orders death to not be proud and that people have mistaken him as the king of the underworld. In lines 3-4 the speaker uses the form of Christianity and describes that we will not die, because we will live eternally. In lines 5-6 the speaker compares rest and sleep to death. He describes that from death we will get pleasure and from that pleasure we will be with our Father in Heaven. In lines 7-8 he says that “soonest our best men with thee do go, rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.” Which means that people risk their own life to achieve something that they believed in. In lines 9-10 the speaker starts calling death names and