Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes

You can read "yet" in the sense of "not yet." In this reading, the speaker doesn’t deny that death can kill; he only says that death can’t kill him right now. However, we prefer to read "yet" as a synonym for the word "even." The two words are interchangeable in this context during the Renaissance. So, Donne sticks his tongue out at death and says, "You can’t even kill little ole’ me, Death."

We’re not so sure about the speaker’s reasoning here. How does he know that death is like sleep? Because people stay in one place with their eyes closed in both states? He uses their similarity in appearance to predict a similarity in their effect.

This seems like a more reasonable basis for hope. People tend to base their behavior and beliefs on other people whom they really respect and admire. So, if good people act unafraid of death – either in war or in martyrdom – then, maybe they know something that the rest of us don’t.