With Easter approaching, the Christian hope of resurrection is on my mind. This means poems about resurrection are also on my mind. John Donne’s poem, “Death, be not proud” is a favorite sonnet of mine in which he tells death, “You ain’t all that.”
After comparing death to sleep and other temporary forms of drowsiness, he trumpets, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally….” Underlying this confidence is the fact of Christ’s resurrection. Because He rose again, we will. Even now, we experience the resurrection of Christ as our indwelling, spiritual life.
“Death, be not proud” has meant a lot to me personally as I work with people who are sick, disabled, or on hospice. Donne’s poem hung on my wall at work for years as a reminder that the end of life is not the whole of it.
Donne’s poem is also at the center of a movie entitled Wit (starring Emma Thompson). Thompson plays a poetry professor facing an untimely death from cancer and meditates on her mentor’s exposition of Donne’s poem at different points in the film. “Gut wrenching” doesn’t quite describe this movie. I couldn’t stop myself from sobbing openly (phew!).
Please take a moment to read Donne’s uplifting poem. And if you want a good cry (or even if you don’t) take the time to watch Wit.
Death, be not proud
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.
A Wandering Minstrel 