"Death, thou shalt die."
This was a school project but I thought it would be a good thing to post as well. It's so true.
"Death Be Not Proud" by: John Donne
Death, be not proud, though some have called 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,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
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.
This poem by John Donne struck me as exceptional. First of all it's title is almost immediately gripping. "Death be not proud." What does the author mean by this statement? Death is already personified before the poem even begins, drawing the reader to further read--if nothing else-- for an explanation of its title.
The powerful theme in this poem is, "Though no one escapes death, not everyone need fear it."
Donne addresses "Death" in a way with confident authority that you wonder where he comes off saying such. Donne was likely familiar with the teachings of the apostle Paul who writes to the Corinthian church.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NLT),
"51 Let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. 53 For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. 54 When this happens - when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die - then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
The first three lines of the poem say that those who fear death are overthrown by it. This is death of the eternal soul. Those who fear death are fearing the unknown because they have never heard or accepted Biblical truth.
Who needs not fear death? Those who have accepted Christ Jesus into their heart and proclaimed Him Lord over their life, becoming a new child in the family of God.
Why do Christians need not fear death? It means leaving earth to live with the Savior of the world! "Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow," refers to life after death in Heaven and how much more wonderful it will be than the purest ecstasy here on Earth. The aches and pains of this world--whether physical, emotional, or mental--will "die" and be no more after death.
John Donne seems to have an understanding of this and so he faces the common fear most have of dying. Death should never be "mighty and dreadful" to someone who knows God and knows what is to come.
The soul lives an eternal life.
Because of Christ's death on the cross and His glorious resurrection from the dead as atonement for our sins, "death is swallowed up in victory."
"Death, thou shalt die."
Also look into Isaiah 25:8
Scripture found at Crosswalk.com
~Britt
~"With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another."~
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)
"Death Be Not Proud" by: John Donne
Death, be not proud, though some have called 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,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
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.
This poem by John Donne struck me as exceptional. First of all it's title is almost immediately gripping. "Death be not proud." What does the author mean by this statement? Death is already personified before the poem even begins, drawing the reader to further read--if nothing else-- for an explanation of its title.
The powerful theme in this poem is, "Though no one escapes death, not everyone need fear it."
Donne addresses "Death" in a way with confident authority that you wonder where he comes off saying such. Donne was likely familiar with the teachings of the apostle Paul who writes to the Corinthian church.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NLT),
"51 Let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. 53 For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. 54 When this happens - when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die - then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
The first three lines of the poem say that those who fear death are overthrown by it. This is death of the eternal soul. Those who fear death are fearing the unknown because they have never heard or accepted Biblical truth.
Who needs not fear death? Those who have accepted Christ Jesus into their heart and proclaimed Him Lord over their life, becoming a new child in the family of God.
Why do Christians need not fear death? It means leaving earth to live with the Savior of the world! "Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow," refers to life after death in Heaven and how much more wonderful it will be than the purest ecstasy here on Earth. The aches and pains of this world--whether physical, emotional, or mental--will "die" and be no more after death.
John Donne seems to have an understanding of this and so he faces the common fear most have of dying. Death should never be "mighty and dreadful" to someone who knows God and knows what is to come.
The soul lives an eternal life.
Because of Christ's death on the cross and His glorious resurrection from the dead as atonement for our sins, "death is swallowed up in victory."
"Death, thou shalt die."
Also look into Isaiah 25:8
Scripture found at Crosswalk.com
~Britt
~"With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another."~
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)