holy sonnet 10

死神，你莫骄傲

死神，你莫骄傲，尽管有人说你

如何强大，如何可怕，你并不是这样；

你以为你把谁谁谁打倒了，其实，

可怜的死神，他们没死；你现在也还杀不死我。休息、睡眠，这些不过是你的写照，

既能给人享受，那你本人提供的一定更多；

我们最美好的人随你去得越早，越能早日获得身体的休息，灵魂的解脱。你是命运、机会、君主、亡命徒的奴隶，你和毒药、战争、疾病同住在一起，

罂粟和咒符和你的打击相比，同样，

甚至更能催我入睡；那你何必趾高气扬呢？睡了一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了，

再也不会有死亡，你死神也将死去。

Many of the poems are believed to have been written in 1609 and 1610, during a period of great personal distress and strife for Donne who suffered a combination of physical, emotional, and financial hardships during this time. This was also a time of personal religious turmoil as Donne was in the process of conversion from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism, and would take holy orders in 1615 despite profound reluctance and significant self-doubt about becoming a priest. In Holy Sonnets, Donne addresses religious themes of mortality, divine judgment, divine love, and humble penance while reflecting deeply personal anxieties.

第一组四行诗以拟人的手法呼吁死神不要骄傲，（“Death, be not proud”）起句突兀，表达了对死神的嘲笑和蔑视，然后立刻指出死神不应骄傲的第一条理由：For those, whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”

第二组四行诗指出死神无需骄傲的另一条理由：死亡不过是更安逸的休息、更甜美的睡眠，“Much pleasure, then from thee much more must f low,”人们都会争着希望得到身体的休息，灵魂的解脱，“Rest of their r bones, and soul’s delivery.”

第三组四行诗嘲笑死神奴隶般的从属地位：“Thou’rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and s ickness dwell,”并以罂粟和咒符来衬托死神的无能为力：“And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well, And better than thy stroke”既然这样，你何必趾高气扬呢？“why swell’st thou then?”

这三组四行诗以不同的理由对死神威胁的解构确实已非同一般。然而，接下来的偶句并不放过对死神的最后一击：睡一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了，再也不会有死亡，不可一世的死神将走向自身的死亡，“And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”诗歌的说理递进模式在此戛然而止，生与死原有意义上的关系彻底逆转：死亡是瞬间的，将很快不复存在，而死后的欢乐则是永恒的，人对于死亡的畏惧变成了死亡自身的恐惧，死亡对于人来说不过是通往幸福永生的大门。

In this poem, Donne uses a variety of poetic elements. These elements function in enhancing the work’s unconventional them e of man's superiority over death.

Throughout the poem, there is a strong use of assonance, the repetition of vowel sound within a phrase. The sound of the words helps in structuring Donne's writing. Nearly every line contains a repetition of "o" sounds. In the following line, an example of this device is clear: “Die not poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me." The frequent use of assonance does not directly enhance the poem's theme, yet it does help convey its message more vividly by making the lines flow, thus allowing the reader to understand each stanza more easily. Since each individual line and its associated thought are easy to understand, the central idea of the entire poem is easy to understand too.