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Holy Sonnet X: "Death, be not proud"
Project Gutenberg #48688: The Poems of John Donne, ed. Herbert J. C. Grierson, vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912)
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Source: Project Gutenberg #48688: The Poems of John Donne, ed. Herbert J. C. Grierson, vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912) Source URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48688 Public domain basis: Written c. 1609-1610; first printed 1633; Grierson edition 1912; public domain. Coverage: Complete: Holy Sonnet X in Grierson's original-spelling text (line numbers removed).
Holy Sonnet X: "Death, be not proud"
Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe, For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee. From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee, Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee doe goe, Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie. Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well, And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then? One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.