How Does Donne Use Figurative Language In Death Be Not Proud

The sonnet, “Death Be Not Proud”, written by John Donne around the year 1610, is the tenth sonnet of nineteen that are part of a collection entitled The Holy Sonnets. Through the use of literary terms and techniques, Donne anthropomorphizes Death and exemplifies that heaven is eternal, addressing death as an equal, or, as it becomes apparent later, inferior.
John Donne starts the poem “Death Be Not Proud” in utilizing the figurative language of apostrophe to tell Death to “be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so” (line 1-2). By using this technique, Donne is able to make Death tangible and a being in which the narrator can entertain an argument and eventually win his case based on Christian philosophy.

This works because the reader's attention is directed to certain sounds, words that are naturally stressed. It brings attention to how thought out this sonnet was when being written. Death thinks that he is "overthrowing" men when he takes them. He is conquering, defeating, ruining, and causing them to fall. Instead, and this is the "Holy" conceit of the sonnet, a very Christian concept, he does not cause them to fall, but helps them to rise. Death helps humans find eternal life and immortality through Christ in heaven. Donne is disdainful and sarcastic with "poore Death,” (4) who is so deluded as to think himself an annoyance on man's existence. Death is now the object of pity. Again, "nor yet canst thou kill me,”(4) apprehends back to the same idea that Death does not kill, but instead makes immortal life possible. Death “canst thou kill” (4) him, thus he holds no power over the speaker

Donne simply furthers the idea that Death is not mighty, but indeed is a slave to his masters. The personified Death does not always have the power to choose who is to die. Fate and Chance may suddenly take someone, kings may doom people to their deaths, and desperate men may even take their own lives, cheating Death of his control and mastery. Donne compares Death to a scavenger who cleans up where poison, war, and sickness have raged. It brings up a questionable point of “How can there be any way that he is proud in his position now?” Donne finds himself disparaging Death and mocks his use in the world. Going back to the sleep/Death image, Donne notes that drugs alike have the power of producing sleep, and in fact, create a deeper sleep than Death. Here, Death's omnipotent self-image is again belittled and shown as false conceit, and the insult is delivered home with “why swell'st thou then?” (11). The image used is a chest swelling with pride. Since this is the case, Donne is frustrated by what reason Death has to be