Analyzing the Poetics of Death Be Not Proud
“Death Be Not Proud” – Poetic Devices Highlight Humanity’s Fright of Death
Within the “Death Be Not Proud” poem, John Donne employs the poetic devices of irony and personification to show that human beings are afraid of death. Concerning irony, the speaker claims dead people are not dead. Regarding personification, the speaker alleges that death dies. Given that these utterances do not make sense, they indicate that the speaker (who represents humanity) is afraid of death. Focusing on the poetic devices of irony and personification, this essay illustrates that “Death Be Not Proud” underscores humanity’s fear of death.
By claiming that dead people are not really dead, the speaker employs irony and in turn underlines that human beings are afraid of death. To this end, the speaker states that “those [whom death] overthrow[s do] / not die” (Donne 3, 4). Here, the speaker utters an ironical statement; while referring to the vagaries of death, the speaker claims that people do not die. A reader would find it hard to reconcile these two sets of ideas. To make meaning of this phrase, one would need to examine it for its thematic meaning. This line of thinking would cause a reader to understand that the speaker is so afraid of death that he utters ironical statements. In this way, irony helps to underline humanity’s fear of death.
The speaker further underscores humanity’s fear of death by ascribing human attributes to death and alleging that death dies. In this regard, the speaker declares that death shall “die” . To be able to die, an entity should have animate qualities. Here, the speaker claims that, like humans, death has the capacity to die. This claim entails the application of the poetic device of personification. Given that, the speaker’s utterances do not make sense, this personification serves a deeper thematic purpose. This purpose entails showing that the speaker is so afraid of death that he cannot think logically. Such instability causes the speaker to think that death has human qualities and can die. From this analysis, it is clear that personification helps to underscore humanity’s fear of death.
In conclusion, “Death Be Not Proud” applies the poetic devices of irony and personification to underline that human beings fear death. Using these poetic devices, the speaker utters statements that underline his/her fear of death. It would be prudent to investigate what could have caused Donne to focus on death in this poem. In this light, an investigator would explore whether Donne lost a close friend or family member.
