What paradoxes are in Death be not proud?

Answer 1

The poem concludes with the paradox, "Death, thou shalt die." This line suggests that Death is self defeating in it's sole purpose because after Death, Death is no more, in the sense that it is not present in the 'eternal afterlife.' The full text of the poem is below:

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, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,

Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,

Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.

Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,

And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,

And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;

One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die