Renaissance Poetry – Metaphysical II
John Donne
“Death Be Not Proud”
“The Flea”
Three Column Poetry Analysis
Literal
Analysis
Implied
First Reading: What the poet says
on a literal level
Second Reading: Annotate the poem for the
tools the poet uses
Final Reading: Draw Conclusions
about the effect of the tools used
Paraphrase the Poem:
Holy Sonnets 10: Death Be Not Proud
For each of the bits of language that you
By John Donne
marked in column 2, draw a conclusion
about the effect of that language in the
What is the setting?
Who are the characters and what do you
know about them?
Plot: What actually happens in the poem?
What is the conflict?
What is the point of view?
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.
context of the literal situation. Do not stray
from the text-text is king.
Determine the tone (the speaker’s attitude
towards his or her subject) and notice if
there are any shifts in tone.
Focus Statement:
Poet:
Literal Situation (Plot):
Poem:
Tone:
Theme:
Death Be Not Proud
1. An apostrophe is a direct address to an absent or dead person, to an abstract quality, or to an object as if it
were present and capable of responding. To whom is this sonnet addressed?
2. Why, in terms of this poem, doesn’t Death actually kill those whom it thinks it kills?
3. Why does Donne claim that Death itself will die?
4. According to the poem, why shouldn’t Death be proud? Whom must Death serve as a slave?
5. How are rest and sleep pictures of Death?
6. How does the speaker’s attitude toward Death develop as the poem develops?
“The Flea” by John Donne
1) The speaker’s primary concern in the poem is to
2) Donne uses the flea’s life as a metaphor for
3) The death of the flea is a metaphor for
4) The speaker’s tone can best be described as
a. profound and lofty
b. impulsive and reckless
c. obsessive and passionate
d. complicated and outrageous
6) The religious references in the poem add an air of
a. reverence for life
b. solemnity to the general setting
c. sophistication to the couple’s relationship
d. authority to the speaker’s arguments
7) The purpose of the poem is to
a. persuade through emotion
b. persuade through logic
Literal
Analysis
Implied
First Reading: What the poet says
on a literal level
Second Reading: Annotate the poem for the tools
the poet uses
Final Reading: Draw Conclusions
about the effect of the tools used
The Flea
Paraphrase the Poem:
For each of the bits of language that you
By John Donne
marked in column 2, draw a conclusion
about the effect of that language in the
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of
two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.
What is the setting?
Who are the characters and what do you
know about them?
Plot: What actually happens in the poem?
from the text-text is king.
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, nay more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our mariage bed, and marriage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that, self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.
Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st, and say'st that thou
Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now;
’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.
What is the conflict?
context of the literal situation. Do not stray
Determine the tone (the speaker’s attitude
towards his or her subject) and notice if
there are any shifts in tone.
What is the point of view?
Focus Statement:
Poet:
Literal Situation (Plot):
Poem:
Tone:
Theme: