Death Be Not Proud
by John Donne
1. What is the name of the collection of sonnets which includes 'Death Be Not Proud"?
Ans: The name of the collection of sonnets which includes 'Death Be Not Proud" is Divine Meditations.
2. What is the popular idea about death?
Ans: The popular idea about death is that it is a very terrifying and mighty power of destruction and it can kill anyone at any time.
3. What is the position of Death in the sonnet?
Ans: In the sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud”, the position of Death is that of a slave to king, chance, fate and desperate men.
4. How has Donne made death pleasurable?
Ans: Donne has made death pleasurable by terming it to be the longer versions of rest or sleep.
5. How is death conquered?
Ans: Death is conquered in the sense that after death, which in nothing but a short sleep, man wakes up in eternity. According to the poet, Death cannot actually cause death to human beings.
6. In what sense does death resemble rest and sleep?
Ans: Death resembles rest and sleep in the sense that it provides comfort just as rest and sleep do.
7. How does the poet dispel his fear of death?
Ans: The poet dispels his fear of death by enjoying the pleasures of worldly life and paying no attention to death reminding objects like human skull.
8. How does the poet refute the pride of death? [NU 2012, 2017]
Ans: The poet refutes the pride of Death by saying that death in nothing but a short sleep. After death man wakes up in eternity.
9. Can you mention some of the literary devices used in the poem "Death Be Not Proud"?
Ans: Some of the literary devices used in the poem "Death Be Not Proud" are given below:
Metaphor: Death is compared to a slave in the line “Thou art slave to fate.”
Personification: “Death, be not proud”.
Paradox and Irony: “Death, thou shalt die”.
10. Give an example of apostrophe in the sonnet 'Death Be not Proud'?
Ans: An example of apostrophe in the sonnet 'Death Be not Proud' is given below:
“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so”.
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