Need help.

[siomil]

Hello.
I'm writing dissertation on topic: Death in British Literature.Can you suggest any writings that has death theme, prose or poetry, doesn't matter.Thanks in advance.

[barbara0207]

Hi Siomil,
can you specify a little? "Death" is such a wide field. Would that include Hamlet's ruminations on death (To be or not to be, gravedigger scene etc.); do you want some of Shakespeare's sonnets dealing with procreation and art as ways to stay alive after your death? Or do you want war poetry (e.g. Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon etc.); here you have the aspects of soldiers dying as a hero for England on the one hand and the description of death as a criticism of war in general on the other hand. That is what has come to my mind just now.

PS: If you think Sassoon is suitable, you may want to reag the following article: "Lost Sassoon poem reveals author's initial gung-ho view of war" from November 13, 2004. Just check the archive of the Guardian.

Edit: Have you got John Donne's "Holy Sonnet 10" beginning "Death be not proud"?

[andave_ya]

Try "And Then There Were None" also titled "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie. Mystery thriller with quite a few deaths.

[siomil]

Yes, I have Donne's poetry, Shakespeare's works, Milton's "Paradise Lost", I'm thinking also about Morte d'Arthur. Thanks for Sassoon I'll definitely include him.

[Geoff Shipley]

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. When people saw me reading WH their automatic response was "sorry", but i loved it. Plenty of death for you!