--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One short sleep past, we wake eternally…" description: "\"One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.\" — John Donne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/john-donne-933_death_one-short-sleep-past-we-wake-eternally-a_1178808.png" --- # One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall… ![“One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” quote by John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/john-donne-933_death_one-short-sleep-past-we-wake-eternally-a_1178808.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/john-donne-933_death_one-short-sleep-past-we-wake-eternally-a_1178808.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/john-donne-933_death_one-short-sleep-past-we-wake-eternally-a_1178808.png) > “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life transcends mortality when love endures, making death irrelevant. **In simple terms:** Love makes death meaningless. Key Takeaway Cherish love over fear of death. Themes love mortality eternity Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - marriage - grief counseling - end‑of‑life care Key Concepts spirituality transcendence romanticism Questions to Reflect On - How does love change your view of death? - Can love truly defeat mortality? A Different Perspective Love alone may not erase all suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Shall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-shall/) [Death Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-thou-307595/) [Eternally Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternally-death-3448309/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Shall Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shall-death-763290/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Wake Eternally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-eternally-3448308/) ## Related quotes > [“ Death Be Not Proud Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/death-be-not-proud-death-be-not-proud-though-some-have-called-thee/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [And death shall have no dominion. Dead men naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/and-death-shall-have-no-dominion-dead-men-naked-they-shall-be-one/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Death, thou shalt die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/death-thou-shalt-die/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [O Death, what are thou? nurse of dreamless slumbers freshening the fevered flesh to a wakefulness eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/o-death-what-are-thou-nurse-of-dreamless-slumbers-freshening-the/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [Death, thou art infinite; it is life is little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-james-bailey/death-thou-art-infinite-it-is-life-is-little/) [Philip James Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-james-bailey/) > [O Death, O Beyond, Thou art sweet, thou art strange!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/o-death-o-beyond-thou-art-sweet-thou-art-strange/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [...for her whom in life thou dids't abhor, in death thou shalt adore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-her-whom-in-life-thou-dids-t-abhor-in-death-thou-shalt-adore/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Then let not winter's ragged hand deface, In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd: Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/then-let-not-winter-s-ragged-hand-deface-in-thee-thy-summer-ere-thou/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Our hatred knows no bounds, and the war shall be to the death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-bolivar/our-hatred-knows-no-bounds-and-the-war-shall-be-to-the-death/) [Simon Bolivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-bolivar/) > [“Not to marry, know love, or bind, their fate; Your line to die for never seed shall take. Death and torment to those caught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/not-to-marry-know-love-or-bind-their-fate-your-line-to-die-for-never/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [If a man should wanton walk with crime ... he shall find in death no great deliverance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/if-a-man-should-wanton-walk-with-crime-he-shall-find-in-death-no/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“There shall be no more death, Because we have already seen all that, Its old and we are tired of it, And now we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/there-shall-be-no-more-death-because-we-have-already-seen-all-that/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/i-shall-die-but-that-is-all-that-i-shall-do-for-death/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“For sure he deserved it. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. From”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-becker/for-sure-he-deserved-it-every-man-shall-be-put-to-death-for-his-own/) [Stephen Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-becker/) > [I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/i-shall-die-but-that-is-all-that-i-shall-do-for-death-i-am-not-on-his/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## More by John Donne > [Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-critical-day-is-not-the-very-day-of-our-death-but-the-whole/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am my own executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-i-do-nothing-upon-myself-and-yet-i-am-my-own-executioner/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-mankind-is-of-one-author-and-is-one-volume-when-one-man-dies-one/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Various content To your eyes, ears, and tongue, and every part. If then your body go, what need you a heart?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/various-content-to-your-eyes-ears-and-tongue-and-every-part-if-then/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ; That I may rise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/batter-my-heart-three-person-d-god-for-you-as-yet-but-knock-breathe/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Young men mend not their sight by using old men's spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/young-men-mend-not-their-sight-by-using-old-men-s-spectacles/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [That which attempts to elevate the ugly to the level of beauty becomes neither; but an obscenity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/that-which-attempts-to-elevate-the-ugly-to-the-level-of-beauty/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [For I am every dead thing In whom love wrought new alchemy For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-i-am-every-dead-thing-in-whom-love-wrought-new-alchemy-for-his/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [As states subsist in part by keeping their weaknesses from being known, so is it the quiet of families to have their chancery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/as-states-subsist-in-part-by-keeping-their-weaknesses-from-being/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All Kings, and all their favorites, All glory of honors, beauties, wits, The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass, Is elder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-kings-and-all-their-favorites-all-glory-of-honors-beauties-wits/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [On a huge hill, Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and about must goo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/on-a-huge-hill-cragged-and-steep-truth-stands-and-hee-that-will-reach/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [How many times go we to comedies, to masques, to places of great and noble resort, nay even to church only to see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/how-many-times-go-we-to-comedies-to-masques-to-places-of-great-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy, or charms, can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/thou-art-slave-to-fate-chance-kings-and-desperate-men-and-dost-with/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) [Explore all 325 John Donne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. 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