I Won't Die, Death Will

"Death, be not proud" by John Donne

"Death, be not proud" provides an excellent example of apostrophe as the entire poem addresses death as an individual.  In doing so, the speaker of "Death, be not proud" gives death the power of a tangible being.  Therefore, the speaker shows fear of death and his insulting comments reveal themselves to be nothing more than self-assurances of safety due to death's powerlessness.  The speaker attempts to degrade death by denying his might and associating him with "poison, war, and sickness," (Donne 971).  Furthermore, the speaker metaphorically refers to death as sleep and rest.  According to his logic, because sleep and rest bring much pleasure and death can be considered the epitome of sleep and rest, death must bring about as much if not more pleasure than restful sleep.  Acquainting death with sleep also allows the speaker to deny the absolute nature of death.  He reasons that, eventually, because death is a simple bout of sleep, he will awake from it into eternal life.  Accordingly, once all people awake from death, "death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die" (Donne 972).  This final self-assurance in the poem clearly displays the speaker's fear.  He is desperately trying to convince himself that in the end, it will not be he who dies, but death itself.