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1. Read this brief guide to the metaphysical poets from the Academy of American Poets’ website.  To what extent is “Death, Be Not Proud” an example of a metaphysical poem? How does this guide help you to understand the literary context Donne was writing in?


2. Antonio Oliver offers this analysis of the theme of death in Donne’s poetry.  Do you agree that Donne exhibits contradictory ideas about death in this poem? Why or why not? Does the poem leave you with a clear understanding of the speaker’s understanding of death?




3. Many of John Donne’s poetic lines have become familiar phrases in English, often widely used with a meaning far different than what Donne had originally intended. Try entering the phrase “Death Be Not Proud” into the Google.com search engine.  How many references come up that do not pertain to Donne’s poem? Find one modern use—from a film, television series, newspaper article, blog entry, etc. —and figure out how the phrase applies in the new context.  Did the writer stay true to Donne’s original meaning of “Death Be Not Proud”? How has the phrase’s meaning changed?