John Donne’s “Death, be not proud” focuses on the ideas of mortality and immortality in relation to death. Donne addresses this theme with a deriding tone, openly mocking the personified death for being proud, as the speaker states “though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, […] thou art not so” (Donne 1-2). This tone brings an interesting attitude towards the idea of impending death, as it completely denigrates the concept that death is a fearful and powerful force that permanently ends life. Instead, the speaker refers to death as the “one short sleep” from which man wakes into eternal life where “death shall be no more” (Donne 13-14). Donne also uses personification to bring human qualities to death, depicting this force as weak,
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(Donne 8-12).
The first two lines of this quatrain depict death as the slave of both men and instruments of death, bringing about the end of life only at the command or actions of these forces. The imagery of “poppy and charms” causing more powerful rest and sleep than death debases the latter, depicting death as tranquil rather than a force that is dreadful and worthy of pride (Donne 11). The couplet and conclusion of “Death, be not proud,” brings the paradox that the speaker built up towards throughout the sonnet with constant deriding tone towards death. The imagery of death in Donne’s sonnet concludes with the death of death:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die (Donne 12-13).
In this couplet, the speaker describes death as the final sleep that transports everyone into eternal life. According to this image, as once every person on earth finally dies, they awaken into a life without death, an eternity that results in the non-existence of death. Since death brought people into this everlasting life, the speaker credits the demise of death to itself and lays out the paradox that “Death, thou shalt die” (Donne …show more content…
He conveys this tone through imagery, language, and the personification of death to demonstrate the idea that death is a slave to other worldly forces, working at their command to bring sols into eternal life. Furthermore, Donne even states that death must not be proud that it brings an end to life to every living being on earth, because once everyone has passed into eternal life, death will ultimately die. Therefore, Donne utilizes various literary techniques in the composition of this sonnet “Death, be not proud” in order to demonstrate that death is not a mighty force that should be
(Donne 8-12).
The first two lines of this quatrain depict death as the slave of both men and instruments of death, bringing about the end of life only at the command or actions of these forces. The imagery of “poppy and charms” causing more powerful rest and sleep than death debases the latter, depicting death as tranquil rather than a force that is dreadful and worthy of pride (Donne 11). The couplet and conclusion of “Death, be not proud,” brings the paradox that the speaker built up towards throughout the sonnet with constant deriding tone towards death. The imagery of death in Donne’s sonnet concludes with the death of death:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die (Donne 12-13).
In this couplet, the speaker describes death as the final sleep that transports everyone into eternal life. According to this image, as once every person on earth finally dies, they awaken into a life without death, an eternity that results in the non-existence of death. Since death brought people into this everlasting life, the speaker credits the demise of death to itself and lays out the paradox that “Death, thou shalt die” (Donne …show more content…
He conveys this tone through imagery, language, and the personification of death to demonstrate the idea that death is a slave to other worldly forces, working at their command to bring sols into eternal life. Furthermore, Donne even states that death must not be proud that it brings an end to life to every living being on earth, because once everyone has passed into eternal life, death will ultimately die. Therefore, Donne utilizes various literary techniques in the composition of this sonnet “Death, be not proud” in order to demonstrate that death is not a mighty force that should be