Holy Sonnet 10

Death, be not proud, though some have called 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 pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art 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.

I found this poem by John Donne very interesting.  The poet seems to be telling Death (who is being personified) to not be proud.  He is saying that even though most people see Death as something " mighty and dreadful", it is not.  He compares Death to the pleasures of  "rest and sleep".  Since resting or sleeping are seen as pictures of Death, Death itself must be better and more pleasurable.  John Donne obviously believes in afterlife because he describes dying as "one short sleep past, we wake eternally / and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die".  Even though Death takes us from the Earth we do not die in his hands because after a short sleep we wake up and live the afterlife.  I liked the way John Donne personified Death depicting it as small and weak and making the idea of dying seem peaceful and somewhat pleasant.

Sonnet 67

 I chose to write my first literary post on Spenser's Sonnet 67 from The Fairy Queen:

Like as a huntsman after weary chase,
  Seeing the game from him escaped away,
  sits down to rest him in some shady place,
  with panting hounds, beguiled of their prey:
So, after long pursuit and vain assay,
  when I all weary had the chase forsook,
  the gentle deer returned the self-same way,
  thinking to quench her thirst at the next brooke.
There she, beholding me with milder look,
  sought not to fly, but fearless still did bide,
  till I in hand her yet half trembling took,
  and with her own good will her firmly tied.
Strange thing, me seemed, to see a beast so wild,
  so goodly won, with her own will beguiled.

I feel that the poet uses the simile of a hunter chasing deer to describe a desperate lover's efforts in getting his lady.  After an endless and tiring chase to make his lady accept his love, he becomes hopeless and gives up "Seeing the game from him escaped away, sits down to rest him in some shady place".  The beloved as well settles down to take a break after having to continuously escape and resist the man that loves her "the gentle deer returned the self-same way, thinking to quench her thirst at the next brooke".  I am not sure of the last half of the poem but I will tell you what I think it means.  Seeing that the man has stopped chasing her and that he is very tired, she doesn't fear to come close to him.  I noticed that this is present in everyday life.  Sometimes we want something so bad that the more we chase it the faster it runs away.  So sometimes (not always) the best way to get closer to it is to calm down and not think about it.  The deer didn't continue to run away once the hunter had stopped. In fact, she came closer.  I still don't understand the last four lines but I think this is the general meaning of the sonnet!