Death Be Not Proud John Donne Analysis

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The Pessimistic Truth of Death
In John Donne 's poem “Death Be Not Proud,” Donne explores the ideology of death while also simultaneously including ideas of his personal religious beliefs. The narrator begins in line one by addressing death as though it is a person. The narrator is challenging death to show that he is in fact not intimidated by something that is usually feared. The author continues on to accuse death of being egotistical and explains that no person should comply with death and give him the satisfaction he is searching for. As an example, in line four there is a strong sense of immorality and the reader is persuaded to feel as though death will never prevail in killing anyone. In the following lines of the sonnet the narrator …show more content…

In line one, “Death be not proud, though some have called thee” the poem begins with an apostrophe, in this specific instance, Death. In line one the narrator also personifies death by directly addressing it. In line three, “For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow” there is an alliteration sound of “Th”. This repetitive “Th” sound draws the reader’s attention to a certain line and signifies some kind of importance the author is trying to convey. The narrator displays a creative use of imagery in line five “From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be” to help the reader use imagination and picture death as no more than restful sleep. Another strategically used device in line six, “Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,” is the narrator’s use of an ellipsis. The author leaves the interpretation of the rest of the sentence for the reader to fill in at his or her discretion with the words they choose. (Hebron, 37) The narrator uses internal rhyme in line seven and eight to grab the reader’s attention and renew interest in the following lines, “And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.” Lastly the narrator ends the work by reiterating the personification of Death in the last

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