John Donne was a leading figure in metaphysical poetry and this piece is a great example of that. This poem by John Donne conveys the message that death is not what we think it is. His poetry is based on the premise that we see death as a threatening entity, something to be feared. This is evident throughout the ages in our religion and literature, where death is a god and comes to collect souls and take them to the afterlife and authors would write stories of heroes who narrowly escape the clutches of death. However, Donne argues that death is actually helpless and not at all scary. He does this by personifying death as a weak figure and using metaphors to compare it to other things. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I find that Donne's use of personification is crucial to his argument because, by making death seem more human, it takes away the sense of divine power it carries. For example, in the poem he states: “Death, do not be proud, even if some have called you mighty and terrible. . . " and "Death, you will die", these statements personify death as a figure that is perceived as powerful and terrifying, when in reality this is not true, because the author believes that death cannot kill him but simply offer him a pleasant rest And even though we know that death can't really die, I think what the author actually meant was that if we don't hold death in such high regard, it will become meaningless which death is something to be afraid of. The use of metaphors in the poem is also vital to develop the author's argument. For example, in the poem, he states: “You are a slave to fate, to chance, to kings and gods desperate men" here Donne compares death to a slave. He makes this comparison by concluding that death simply follows the orders of fate, chance, or men. And that anyone could take their own life and leave death helpless. To further humiliate death he compares it to rest and sleep, as I said before. And if sleep and rest bring comfort to a person, eternal sleep can't be so bad. Donne later states that "And even the poppy or charms can make us sleep... why then do you swell?" He is once again belittling Death by saying that drugs can also put a man to sleep, so what does Death have to be proud of? Besides how we should view death, I believe there is another message in the poem, that after death there is eternal life waiting for the good man. I came to the conclusion from several text passages of the poem, one of which is "nor can you kill me yet", this statement alludes to a kind of immortality. Another phrase: "And soon our best men will go with you, rest of their bones and deliverance of the soul", this suggests that good men need not fear death because they are freed from their body and delivered to heaven . And finally "after a short sleep, we wake up eternally", this is quite simple, once you die you will enjoy eternal life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Something The interesting thing I discovered during my research is that John Donne suffered from a near-fatal illness, so perhaps this poem was created by his struggle with death. And after coming to terms with his life, he experienced an epiphany of sorts and created this poem to share his thoughts. I believe these messages served to reassure readers about.