WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Poetry Fix: Holy Sonnet X

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

Today, Erika Kyba reads John Donne's glorious vaunt against death itself: Holy Sonnet X.

Welcome to the Poetry Fix on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Erica Kaiba, bringing you your weekly fix of poetry from across time. Today we're reading John Dunn's glorious vaunt against death itself, Holy Sonnet 10. Dun begins the poem with the triumphant rebuke, Death Be Not Proud. This direct address of death immediately calls to mind 1st Corinthians 1555. O death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? By evoking that particular verse, the poem reminds the reader of the broader ideas of 1 Corinthians 15,

such as death being the last enemy to be destroyed. Christianity is never explicitly mentioned in this poem, but it is latent within the text everywhere you look, starting with this opening allusion to Corinthians. After all, the vanquishing of death is a deeply Christian idea. Though most world religions have a system for dealing with the afterlife, many believe systems portray death as something inevitable, something to be accepted and dealt with. Christianity goes a step farther, portraying death as something that will eventually be conquered and destroyed outright. And this is the vision that Dunn holds to, painting the Christian as victor over death.

He says that the best men go soonest to death, and this is true of many martyrs and heroes, who sacrificed their earthly life for a higher cause. Dunn imagines their souls as being delivered after death, which could refer to delivery from danger, or delivery to a new life, as if death is a kind of rebirth. Another example of the sonnets latent Christianity is Dunn's use of sleep imagery. Often in the New Testament the dead are referred to as those who sleep in Christ. Christ himself, before he revives a deceased 10-year-old girl, says that she is not dead, but asleep. Now, Dunn will refer to rest and sleep as pictures of death, as a sort of prefigurement that reveals what death will be like.

And indeed, sometimes we are so still when we are asleep that we can be mistaken for the dead. Our eyes are closed. We aren't reacting to external stimuli. Maybe a loved one has to come really close to make sure that our chest is actually rising and falling. We are like the dead. But we are at peace. Dunn points out that we actually derive much pleasure from sleep, so he draws the conclusion that much more must flow from death. And for the faithful who are returning to God when they die, this is certainly the case. Dunn even goes so far as to say that death is a short sleep.

which strikes many readers as odd. After all, if you've lost a loved one, the time away from them never feels short. And of course, there are the generations who have been dead for thousands of years. How can death then be likened to a short sleep? Perhaps done means that, in the context of eternity, the time we spend deceased is very short indeed.

After all, as Second Peter tells us, with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. Our view of time, being mortal creatures, is very different from God's view of time. With all that said, let's dive in. Holy Sonnet 10 by John Dunn. 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 swast thou, then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more. Death thou shalt die. You've been listening to The Poetry Fix with Erica Kaiba. If you enjoyed this episode, consider following The Poetry Fix on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. And if you have any poems you want to see in a future episode, email your suggestions to The Poetry Fix at gmail.com. Join me next week and we'll be reading T.S. Eliot's Aunt Helen.