The Personification And Criticism Of Death In John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud."

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Death, nor
yet canst thou kill me" (ll 2-4), Donne defies death's power. He is so bold
as to mock death, calling it "poor death" (l 4), giving death the sense and
personification of being deficient in that it cannot kill Donne.
In the second quatrain, Donne continues his critique of death. He
questions death that if sleep or rest is a pleasure of life, then what
greater pleasure can death bring? "Much pleasure, then from thee much
pleasure must flow" (l 6). Donne also gives death credit that even the
virtuous go with death, "And soonest our best men with thee do go" (l 7),
to be delivered to an eternal rest and their soul's salvation, "Rest of our
bones, and soul's delivery" (l 8).
From the third quatrain comes Donne's second perception about death,
painting death as the associate of all the evil in life by saying "Thou art
slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,/ And dost with poison, war,
and sickness dwell" (l 9-10).

"The poet [Donne] even notes that narcotics or ...

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