John Donne was an English poet, scholar, who later in life became a part of the Church of England. “Death’s Duell” represents his final sermon at the St Paul’s Cathedral, soon after which he died.
The contents of the sermon are related to life and death. The idea of death as an omnipresent fact of life is described, the constant decay of the body is described. But, all is not forlorn, as the sermon is finished with the hopeful reminder of Christ and his resurrection and the continuation of life through the soul.
The sermon took place in 1631, and a morbid story that follows it relates to the image of dead Donne, for which he posed while he was alive pretending to be dead.
