Death, Be Not Proud

Blake Fletcher

AP English

November 7, 2011

Death, Be Not Proud

1.     I think that the main figure of speech that the author uses is it seems like he is talking to death as if death is a person. That is kind of an odd image talking to your death?

2.     Death should not be proud because because even though many have called him powerful and mighty he is not. Because he can not kill the speaker. He should only take the readiest men. His arguments seem like insults at first and then towards the end of the sonnet it almost seems like it turns persuasive.

3.     The speakers tone does not strike me as religious. He says to take the readiest person. That means he is saying kill someone else not me. That really isn’t a religious idea. I agree with the second idea I think that the speaker of the poem is more trying to reassure himself that there is nothing to fear in death.

4.     Death be not proud more goes by the rhyme scheme of the Italian sonnet but has the turn in the final couplet so im not sure which that connects to because in my notes I don’t have the turn labeled for the Italian sonnet but I think that this poem may be a mix of English and Italian sonnet with more connections to the Italian sonnet.

Death, Be Not Proud Explication

The Hybrid Sonnet “ Death, Be Not Proud” shows a speaker who is possibly facing death and having to come to grips with the fear he is facing. He seems to be in denial early in the poem. The last few lines reveal a turn in tone that seems for the better for this distraught man.

In the first 8 lines of this Petrarchan sonnet it reveals the speaker trying to defy death. “Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me” this quote is a great example of his outlook on death. He sees death as a person who is facing like in a fight and that death is not quite strong enough to take him. It is literally a fight for his life. He says that there is much more pleasure left in his life, this shows that he isn’t quite ready to give up yet.

The last 6 lines reveal a different tone from the speaker, He seems to be coming around or understanding that death happens to everyone. “One short sleep passed, we wake eternally,” I think this means that he knows now that there is more out there then just dying. There is an afterlife he can have faith in. He knows that when he dies it is like taking a nap, but when he wakes up he will be eternally alive. The more positive ending seems to leave me with the feeling that he went peacefully. No one can escape death or fate. When it is your time it is your time and the speaker seemed to have a better understanding of that in the final sestet.

The Petrarchan sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud” has much meaning to everyone who reads it because it is near to everyone. As the speaker comes to realize death cannot be escaped by any soul. Everyone tends to fight the idea of dying, but in the end just as the speaker did they usually come to grips that everyone has their time. The understanding puts people at peace and settles them for their final rest. The speaker is struggling in the beginning to fight the natural course of life but seems calmer after the Volta.