Death Sonnets

Paper Summary:

"Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne and "When I Have Fears" by John Keats are both sonnets about death. This paper explains how Donne treats death as the gateway to eternal life and presents a well-reasoned argument, which supports this thesis. Keats, on the other hand, treats death as a final nothingness. In a poem filled with imagery, he states that he is unprepared for death.

From the Paper:

" "Death be not Proud" by John Donne and "When I have Fears" by John Keats are two poems that have striking comparisons and contrasts. Both are sonnets about death written by poets who were preoccupied with the subject. Keats had seen his mother and later his brother die from tuberculosis and was himself suffering from the terminal disease. [1] Donne was known to be preparing for his death for quite some time before he actually died. He had written two "death-bed hymns" long before his death and had even preached his "own funeral sermon". [2] This poem too reflects his preoccupation with his own death when in the fourth line he says, "nor yet canst thou kill me". However the outlook of the two poets is completely different. Keats is worried about dying and looks upon death as a final "nothingness". Donne on the other hand scorns death, treating it as a gateway to eternal life."

More papers on Death Sonnets:

• Comparison Essay # 61367 : "Death in Renaissance Poetry"
• Analytical Essay # 56002 : "Death in Poetry"
• Analytical Essay # 46329 : "John Donne's "Holy Sonnets" - Numbers Ten and Fourteen"

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