Death be not proud is a poem by John Donne where he focuses on presenting an argument against the power of death. Using personification by Speaking to/about death as if it was a person, John Donne addresses death by warning it from its pride and “mighty and dreadful” force (line 2). He starts his argument by telling death that those he kills do not die, and that doesn’t even apply to the poet himself.
In Donne’s point of view in this poem, Death brings “Much Pleasure” (line 5) since he believes earth is a suffering and torturous experience for good souls “Rest of their bones” (line 6). Then the poet starts criticizing death for believing that its above all and thinking highly of itself, Death is not but a “slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (line 9), here a choice is concluded; for these desperate souls, they can choose between the suffering of this earthly experience or choose the easy way out which is the rest that death offers. Even that can be achieved better by “charms” (line 11) so death has no superior power over us.
Donne uses apostrophe to address “poor death” (Line 3) which is probably pretty embarrassing since death thinks so much of itself as a Tough, mighty figure, metaphor is also used when he calls rest and sleep “pictures” in line #5, since they had no pictures in the poets time, he was referring to imitations like a painting or a drawing of some type. His perspective is that sleep and rest are pale copies and death is the true thing, which is only a deeper state of sleep, not something horrific or frightening. The speaker asks "Why swell’st thou then?" (line 12) as a rhetorical question to show death it really has nothing to be proud of but his ego which only whom he respects/appreciates, the extended metaphor now is revealed when the speaker shows he doesn’t need death for deep/good sleep he says he’d rather use “poppies, or charms” which “can make us sleep well” (line 11) aswell. The extended metaphor goes on from here when he calls the time between his death and the judgment day “One short sleepe past” even if he’s been sleeping for hundreds of years, everything is short compared to eternity.
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