Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Quotes
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Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are 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.
Context
"Death, thou shalt die" may seem kind of grim, but it's almost the opposite: it's really an expression of hope for the unknown future. The idea is that, once people (or in Donne's world, Christians) wake up in Heaven, Death will be dead.
If this were an action movie, these words would be the witty line the hero says right before wasting the villain; the "Hasta la vista, baby" of poetry. Except that here, instead of Schwarzenegger getting all Terminator, Donne is getting all metaphysical: it's a classic metaphysical poet move to end a poem on a line that seems to contradict itself.
Where you've heard it
Anyone who wants to come off as death defying might use this as a fancy, uh, flipping of the bird to death.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Harsh, maybe, but not pretentious.