who wrote the poem death be not proud
Death Be Not Proud (poem) Sonnet X, also known by its opening words as "Death Be Not Proud", is a fourteen-line poem, or sonnet, by English poet John Donne (1572â€“1631), one of the leading figures in the metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century English literature. Written between February and August 1609, it was not published during Donne's lifetime; it was first published posthumously in 1633.
Dulce et Decorum est Formally, the poem combines two sonnets, as it is formed by 28 lines, though the spacing of the stanzas is irregular.[citation needed] The text presents a vignette from the front lines of World War I; specifically, of British soldiers attacked with chlorine gas. In the rush when the shells with poison gas explode, one soldier is unable to get his mask on in time. The speaker of the poem describes the gruesome effects of the gas on the man and concludes that, if one were to see first-hand the reality of war, one might not repeat mendacious platitudes like dulce et decorum est pro patria mori: "How sweet and honourable it is to die for one's country."