Death, be not proud (John Donne)

This is another Donne poem that I came to through non-poetry means. I first heard of 'Death, be not proud' by reading the book by the same name. A great book about the terminal illness of a son through the eyes of the father. The poem was the epitaph.

It was a fitting epitaph. You fear death until you come into close contact and then you realize it's just a phase change and that "Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men." Death has no power by itself. Really it's so weak, a tool to be plied by others. And after all you can't fear a tool, only the wielder. So, sure, fear the 'desperate men', but death itself is pure fluff. Donne does a great job of powerfully uncovering this truth and ending with the a clear and loud deathly stroke. "And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."

This poem is so empowering. I bet it was pure comfort to the author of the true-life novel "Death, Be Not Proud."

Favorite line: "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee/Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;/For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow/Die not, poor Death"