Themes of Death and Eternal Life in Songs and Holy Sonnets Anonymous 12th Grade

In his Songs and Holy Sonnets, John Donne often presents the Catholic ideology of eternal life after death. Through his metaphysical poetry, Donne expresses his faith in God and beliefs – including his belief of a destination after life (being Heaven or Hell). In the Holy Sonnet X, Donne explores themes such as death, religion and eternal life in both a positive sense, in terms of reaching paradise in Heaven and meeting God, and in a negative sense through presenting death as cruel and a consequence of sin. Despite the natural fears of death, Donne rather embraces the prospect in both poems, fueled by his belief of an afterlife.

An example of this is in Holy Sonnet X, as the poetic voice creates a personified version of death by talking down directly to him, portraying Death as an arrogant being who needs to be humbled, and assumes the position of the voice who will humble death. He tells him that he should not be proud, even though for generations people have feared death and called him “mighty and dreadful”; however the poetic voice, with a voice of authority and position of power, states: “thou art not so”. This suggests that Donne does not fear the prospect of death - but rather embraces it - and questions its power. This...