Explication: Death, be not proud

Death Be Not Proud is among the most famous and most beloved poems in English literature. Its popularity lies in its message of hope couched in eloquent, quotable language. Donne’s theme tells the reader that death has no right to be proud, since human beings do not die but live eternally after “one short sleep.” Although some people depict death as mighty and powerful, it is really a lowly slave that depends on luck, accidents, decrees, murder, disease, and war to put men to sleep. But a simple poppy (whose seeds provide a juice to make a narcotic) and various charms (incantations, amulets, spells, etc.) can also induce sleep—and do it better than death can. After a human being’s soul leaves the body and enters eternity, it lives on; only death dies.

To convey his message, Donne relies primarily on personification, a type of metaphor, that extends through the entire poem. (Such an extended metaphor is often called a conceit.) Thus, death becomes a person whom Donne addresses, using the second-person singular (implied or stated as thou, thee, and thy). Donne also uses alliteration, as the following lines illustrate:

For THose whom THou THink'st THou dost overTHrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet Canst thou Kill me
Much pleasure; THen from THee Much More Must flow
And Dost With poison, War, and sickness DWell
And better THan THy stroke; why swell'st THou THen
One short sleep past, We Wake eternally (Note: One begins with a w sound)
And Death SHall be no more; Death, thou SHalt Die

In the couplet, poet believes that death is like a short sleep afterwhich we wake up forever. So death is not dreadful. In fact death itself will die.