Death Be Not Proud

Despite undermining death in the very first line and later overthrowing death by promising eternal life, the poem centers mortality. The triumphant sonnet nonetheless paints a grim kaleidoscopic picture of the many unpleasant ways to die: dispatched by kings (for the modern reader, perhaps, “despotic governments”), victimized by “desperate men” (Line 9), poisoned by something no doubt horrible, or getting sick and dying unpleasantly. The poem also suggests that there's no use complaining about dying horribly because “fate” or “chance” (Line 9) have their unfathomable ways and will do what they will no matter what a person thinks or desires.

Perhaps the most telling reference to human mortality comes not in the third quatrain but in the one before it, in Line 7, when the speaker says to death: “Soonest our best men with thee must go.” In other words, the best die young, an observation that offers just a hint of the poignancy and unfairness of human life. The speaker mentions this fact only to shrug off its significance, but the mention of gruesome deaths and dying young is powerful and sad, even despite reassurances of rest and liberation after death.