Divine Meditation 10: Death, be not proud: Historical and Literary Context

Metaphysical Poetry

In 1779, the famous literary critic Samuel Johnson coined the term “metaphysical poetry” to describe the verses of a small number of seventeenth-century poets such as John Donne, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell. Generally speaking, the word metaphysical refers to a type of philosophical thinking that is characterized by the use of abstract reasoning. When Johnson described certain examples of poetry as metaphysical, he wanted to underscore their tendency toward philosophical abstraction. For him, though, abstraction was a bad thing. He felt that metaphysical poets developed unnecessarily elaborate conceits and unsolvable paradoxes. What resulted was dense and intellectual verse that demonstrated the poet’s wit more than it pleased the reader. Despite Johnson’s personal distaste for it, metaphysical poetry made a significant comeback in the early twentieth century, largely due to an enthusiastic reception from famous poets like T. S. Eliot. Today, many scholars celebrate John Donne as one of the Renaissance’s finest metaphysical poets, and the ambitiously constructed conceits that appear in many of his poems show why. Although this poem isn’t carried by the same kind of ingenious conceits that define much of Donne’s early poetry, the challenge to Death’s “pride” does exhibit a similar conceptual boldness.

Religious Turmoil in Elizabethan England

“Death, be not proud” is one of nineteen Holy Sonnets (also known as Divine Meditations) that Donne began writing in 1609. At this time, Donne had been a member of the Church of England for more than a decade, after having converted from Catholicism. Donne had grown up Catholic at a time when England was deeply divided over matters of religion. Early in her reign Queen Elizabeth secured the dominance of the Anglican Church, which had been established by her father, Henry VIII. Even so, Catholicism continued to be tolerated. Later in Elizabeth’s reign, however, several Catholic conspiracies convinced her that Catholicism posed a serious threat both to her and to England at large. Thus, by the 1590s, Catholics faced persecution in the form of harsh fines and even imprisonment. Donne converted to the state church to avoid such persecution and to ensure himself the possibility of a public life. He was eventually ordained in the Anglican Church and became well known for his sermons. Donne’s conversion affected him deeply, and his Holy Sonnets reflect inner turmoil and doubt as well as a rich curiosity about the intellectual and theological aspects of his adopted faith.

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