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Analysis Of Death Be Not Proud By John Donne

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Throughout his poems, John Donne uses literary devices, such as imagery and diction, to discuss an overarching theme of death along with its religious implications, done most noticeably in the Holy Sonnet “Death Be Not Proud” and the lyrical poem “Hymn to God, My God, In My Sickness.” He also elaborates on the complexity of emotion, particularly in the metaphysical love poem, “The Flea.” Donne’s witty and clever style paired with his affinity for social and religious commentary allows his works to reach universal understanding and transcend time, often using conceit to imply a purpose in his poems larger than the message being explicitly told.
Donne, across all three poems, discusses the purpose of death and questions its importance in …show more content…

The poem ends in a paradox: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally/and death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die,” (14). It ends by remarking that after death, humans will live eternally, and death will not exist.
In “Hymn to God, My God, In My Sickness,” Donne also establishes the theme of death and the afterlife through religious imagery and conceit. The poem is structured by each metaphor, the first stanza referring to music, the second through fourth stanzas referring to maps and voyages, and the last two stanzas alluding to religious themes— each of these conceits contribute to the overall message of confidently accepting death. Donne himself was nearing his own death, which makes it insightful to Donne’s views on being close to death and his conflictions with those ideas. The speaker uses religious allusion to represent Adam’s original sin and Christ’s sacrificial blood that allows him to be saved, noted by these lines, “As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,/May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace./So, in His purple wrapp'd, receive me, Lord;/By these His thorns, give me His other crown,” (24-27). The image which dominates this particular poem is the image of Christ as Savior, the victor over sin and death. Donne confidently accepts his death knowing that he has done all he can to

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