Death be not proud

Wow, after Yves St Laurent, it appears Bo Diddley has also passed away! They were pretty close in age too. Hmm...well, they say these things come in threes, and that was 2. Indeed :/

Well, I was planning on making this post, about a John Donne poem, and it's really got nothing to do with either death but it's something I want to talk about later: "Death Be Not Proud". I have some left over reflections on Death...that I felt like addressing sometime today. For now:

DEATH, be not proud, though some have callèd thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.
From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
And soonest our best men with thee do go—
Rest of their bones and souls' delivery!
Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!

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