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"

A Valediction: Forbidding Morning (John Donne)

Here is a super famous poem by John Donne. I remember seeing this poem as a question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It was the most surreal thing. The question was: In the poem...to what object was a lover compared to? Or something like that. It was worth a lot of money, but the person got it wrong and acted like the question was ridiculous and "who would know this obscure piece of knowledge"?

Tonight, I recited this poem aloud, like I do with every poem I have talked about on here. However, unlike every other time I have read this poem I began to tear up. I'm a sap, and I am newly engaged and it just got to me. Even though this poem compares love to a mathematical tool, it totally works and plants the airy romance to the real and touchable world. Love. Love. Love.

Favorite line: "Our two souls therefore, which are one,/Though I must go, endure not yet/A breach, but an expansion./Like gold to airy thinness beat."

The Flea (John Donne)

It's late for me, having had the busiest weekend in a while, so this will be short. Today's poem will be The Flea by John Donne.

This is a poem that is a come-on by one sexual partner (at least he wants it be so) to another. It's very funny and it's very persuasive. It's also very smooth. Which again, is kind of funny. You would just not expect someone to make this kind of argument in a poem.

And not just any poem, but one that is this stylistically of quality. One that was written centuries ago. One that is this full of religious references. ("three lives in one flea spare" definitely refers to the Holy Trinity.)

It's one smooth, slick package.

Favorite line: "Me it suck'd first, and now sucks thee,/And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee"