Emily Dickinson Death Be Not Proud

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Recommended: Emily Dickinson as a poet of death

Death shows up as a main topic for many areas of literature. Due to its mystifying and unknown nature, many people have attempted to comprehend or unravel the mystery of death, causing a great amount of controversy on the issue. John Donne, a poet of the late 16th and early 17th century, wrote on the topic of death in his poem “Death, Be Not Proud” giving people hope about death. However; Emily Dickinson, a poet of the 19th century, wrote on the topic of death in her poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” talking about it as an escape from life’s futilities. So, while Donne takes a more positive outlook on death, Dickinson takes a somewhat more negative and enigmatic look at it. Therefore, Donne and Dickinson compare and contrast in the …show more content…

To Donne, Death is a slave, powerless and bound to the summoning of fate, chance, kings, and desperate men. Only with devices such as poison, war, and sickness can Death act. Yet, Dickinson describes Death as a chivalrous gentleman finding the time for Dickinson when she squandered her time and wealth with the frivolousness of the world. However, the two poems agree similarly in that Death, for both Donne and Dickinson, gives rest, but Donne describes it as sleep and Dickinson describes it as a house in the ground. Overall, Death’s description is either that of slavery and dependence or that of chivalry and …show more content…

Using a powerful paradox to exemplify his point, Donne proclaims that Death carrying out his deeds of bringing people to eternal life will result in his own Death. “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” (line 14) This part of the poem really shows Donne’s Christian beliefs since his allusion to a Bible verse of 1 Corinthians 15:26, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." States words similar to Donne’s. Alternatively, Dickinson’s Death has a purpose: to gather up the dead and bring them under his icy grip. Also, Dickinson leaves it very unclear whether or not she goes to eternal life, because of the use of the word “surmise” in, “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads were toward Eternity.” While Donne exhibits a clear Christian belief and hope for Heaven in his poem, Dickinson enigmatically leaves it unclear whether or not she went to Heaven or Hell or

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