Holy Sonnet 10 Personification
ne’s Holy Sonnet 10: Death Be Not Proud
Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10, “Death, be not proud” expresses the speaker feelings towards death. He uses personification by addressing death as if it was a human. In the first stanza the author says:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think's thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. (1-4)
From the tone of the stanza it may seem like the speaker is talking to man, but he’s actually speaking to death as if it was a human being. In the first two lines the speaker talks to Death as if it was a bully on a school yard. The speaker believe Death is "proud," arrogant, and thinks he can boss people around. The …show more content…
On line 9 the speaker raises his intensity, and becomes more hostile towards Death, calling him names and taunting him as a slave. The speaker uses a metaphor when he says “slave.” The speaker is suggesting that Death doesn’t act on his own free will, and instead is controlled or manipulated by other things like "fate, chance, kings, and desperate men". Then on line 10, the speaker brings another accusation against Death, claiming that he hangs out, with "poison, war, and sickness." I believe the speaker claims these are Death friends because they all kill lots and lots of people and they’re all generally considered bad or painful ways to die. On lines 11-12 the speakers begins to relate back to the comparison he made earlier in the sonnet about “sleep” and “death”. Earlier in the sonnet the speaker compared “sleep” and “death” now he’s saying who needs Death anyway? If the speaker wants to sleep he can just use drugs. Death is usually thought of as the ultimate sleep aid, but the speaker puts death in his place, telling him not to "swell" with pride. The last lines concludes the sonnet in somewhat of a unique way. First he revisit the idea of death as “sleep” and he thinks back to Christianity because he believe between death and eternal life you are asleep. The poem final words is “Death, thou shalt die” which means that death will die. The speaker probably knew that death dying is a contradiction, but he just meant that death won’t exist
Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10, “Death, be not proud” expresses the speaker feelings towards death. He uses personification by addressing death as if it was a human. In the first stanza the author says:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think's thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. (1-4)
From the tone of the stanza it may seem like the speaker is talking to man, but he’s actually speaking to death as if it was a human being. In the first two lines the speaker talks to Death as if it was a bully on a school yard. The speaker believe Death is "proud," arrogant, and thinks he can boss people around. The …show more content…
On line 9 the speaker raises his intensity, and becomes more hostile towards Death, calling him names and taunting him as a slave. The speaker uses a metaphor when he says “slave.” The speaker is suggesting that Death doesn’t act on his own free will, and instead is controlled or manipulated by other things like "fate, chance, kings, and desperate men". Then on line 10, the speaker brings another accusation against Death, claiming that he hangs out, with "poison, war, and sickness." I believe the speaker claims these are Death friends because they all kill lots and lots of people and they’re all generally considered bad or painful ways to die. On lines 11-12 the speakers begins to relate back to the comparison he made earlier in the sonnet about “sleep” and “death”. Earlier in the sonnet the speaker compared “sleep” and “death” now he’s saying who needs Death anyway? If the speaker wants to sleep he can just use drugs. Death is usually thought of as the ultimate sleep aid, but the speaker puts death in his place, telling him not to "swell" with pride. The last lines concludes the sonnet in somewhat of a unique way. First he revisit the idea of death as “sleep” and he thinks back to Christianity because he believe between death and eternal life you are asleep. The poem final words is “Death, thou shalt die” which means that death will die. The speaker probably knew that death dying is a contradiction, but he just meant that death won’t exist