"Death be not Proud"

This poem written by John Donne is a direct address to death. Through the use of Donne's pronouns in the piece (thou, thee, and thy), one can infer that death is being personified. I viewed this almost as an argument poem, because the speaker sees death as insignificant and cowardly. Therefore, the tone of the poem is ridiculing or belittling toward the subject of death. In lines 7 and 8, the speaker talks about the difference between the body and the soul after death. The speakers states that the bones "rest" and the soul is "delivered". The speaker believes that even though the body is dead, the soul lives on after death. This conveys that the speaker may possibly have great faith or conviction in his or her religion. According to the speaker, death cannot have pride because humans don't really die because of eternal life or life after death. Other things in the world can create similar effects on a person like death, so death has no reason to feel strong or mighty. The example of the poppy given by the author adds to the condescending tone of the poem. The author ends the poem with a paradoxical phrase, "Death, thou shalt die". The statement is ironic because death cannot actually die.