Death Be Not Proud Tone

John Donne’s famous sonnet, “Death, Be Not Proud,” was published in 1633 shortly after his death. Donne’s transition from the Catholic religion to Anglicanism was greatly portrayed in many of his religious work. “Death, Be Not Proud” was no acceptation to this concept. “Death, Be Not Proud” was written in order to portray Donne’s belief in an afterlife, and to portray how the final destination in life is not death but rather a place in the afterlife. His poem, “Death, Be Not Proud, portrays the message that Death is not as almighty as he believes due to Death being a delivery man for souls between life and the afterlife. Donne’s belief on how Death is nothing to fear because an afterlife awaits us after death is seen through the poem’s structure,

persona, language, tone, and theme within “Death, Be Not Proud.”
The structure of “Death, Be Not Proud” greatly influences Donne’s overall message on how Death is not as powerful or grand as he believes. The use of a sonnet allows Donne to create a shift within the piece after the first eight lines in order to create a different message in the final six lines. The first eight lines of “Death, Be Not Proud” focuses on the aspect that Death may think he is almighty and dreadful, but he cannot truly kill us. These lines end saying how, after death, our soul is finally delivered to its final destination. There is a shift after these lines so that Donne may illustrate why death should not be proud of his work. The speaker begins to illustrate that Death does not actually kill us because Death is just a slave to fate and other aspects of life, like kings and murderers, that end up ultimately killing us. The speaker even goes on to illustrate how other things, like poppy and charms, can do the same thing Death can. It ends with the speaker saying how after we die, we wake up in eternity and how Death has no power in eternity. The structure allows this transition to occur as to allow a change in the focus of the poem and to deliver the overall theme of “Death, Be Not Proud.” It creates an effect on how Death has no power in the end, for after death, humans get to live in eternity, which is the true final destination. The structure of a sonnet allows the poem to shift its focus from Death to the idea of an afterlife.
The persona of Death in “Death, Be Not Proud” greatly adds to the effectiveness of the piece as a whole. Most media and other stories give Death an image of someone dressed in black and holding a scythe to collect the souls of people, but in “Death, Be Not Proud,” Donne does the complete opposite. The image portrayed by most media gives people the image that
Death is this cruel and evil being, for Death ends our life. On the contrary to the image, Donne gives an image on how death is the delivery man for our soul because he transitions human souls from the living word to the afterlife. Donne gives Death the persona of someone with no importance because he illustrates how Death cannot truly kill us and how he has no power in the world once we reach the afterlife. Donne gives Death a sense on how he is much more inferior than he might think, and by giving him the image of a delivery boy, it makes Death seem weak and not as scary as people would initially believe. The persona Donne creates reaps Death from its former glory and creates the idea that afterlife is the true significant destination.
Another contributor to the overall purpose and effectiveness of the piece comes from Donne’s language and tone within “Death, Be Not Proud.” The overall vocabulary of “Death, Be Not Proud” is nothing from unusual, but it is through the way the tone and language is set up that gives the poem its overall effectiveness.

The powerful imagery within “Death, Be Not Proud” allows Donne to degrade Death’s belief that he is this almighty being. The imagery on how Death is just a delivery man gives Death an illustration on how he is a slave, which is reinforced when Donne describes how he is a slave to faith and other aspects of human nature. This language tears down the image of Death so he can bring up the idea of afterlife and eternity later on. The tone of the poem also gives way to how afterlife is much more important than Death. The tone of the poem along with the language used gives “Death, Be Not Proud” to seem as though someone is talking to Death and explains why Death should not be proud of the things he does. The tone in Donne’s poem is that of seriousness, hope, and optimistic towards the idea of an afterlife. It creates the atmosphere on how there is a greater life beyond just death, an afterlife. Donne’s use of powerful imagery and powerful arguments creates the effect that Death is nothing to us, for he can no longer haunt us after our souls reach the

afterlife.
The overall theme of “Death, Be Not Proud” is that the final destination in life is not that of death, but that of an afterlife. The theme of Donne’s poem is that of the belief of a religious afterlife. The whole purpose of “Death, Be Not Proud” is to illustrate that Death is not something to be feared, for it is the beginning of something much greater. The idea that there is an afterlife gives the idea that Death should not be feared because it only means that our final destination in life is fixing to be delivered. The religious theme of “Death, Be Not Proud” is used in order to deliver hope to those who fear Death by giving them the assumption that something much greater happens after death. The theme of “Death, Be Not Proud” in this since can be that of hope for something more than just a life that ends with death. The theme of the poem allows hope to those who feel as though Death is something to fear.
The structure, persona of Death, language, tone, and theme of “Death, Be Not Proud” gives Donne a way to illustrate the idea of an afterlife. Through the use of all these elements allow readers to feel hopeful and less fearful of Death because Death has always been illustrated as something to fear but Donne makes it seem as though it is only the beginning. The effectiveness of the piece overall is very liberating because it makes readers feel as though they can live their life fearless because our true life will begin once we reach the afterlife. John Donne’s poem, “Death, Be Not Proud,” is a trilling piece that allows readers to reinterpret the normal image of Death and have a hope for a life within eternity.