Death expressed through Literary elements - Essay Example

Both poems are rich with the use of personification, metaphor, wordplay or figurative language, and paradox in presenting how one should treat the idea of death. Death and Personification In Donne's poem, the first two lines shows the use of personification in addressing death. Donne writes: “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;” (“Death” 1-2). The poet speaks to death as if it is a human being capable of communicating, while at the same time portraying that death is not as mighty as it appears to be.

This continues at the middle part of the poem, where Donne writes: “And soonest our best men with thee do go, / Rest of their bones and soul's delivery.” (“Death” 7-8), where Donne talks of death able to lead men to their last hours on earth. On the other hand, in Dickinson's poem, death occupies the lead role --- that of a protagonist. Dickinson writes: “Because I could not stop for death / He kindly stopped for me” (“Because” 1.1-2). Here, Dickinson portrays death like that of a male suitor who is stopping by for his lover.

This already gives a hint as to how the poet will present death in this poem. While death is regarded as something disliked in Donne's poem, it is regarded as something natural, or even appreciated, in Dickinson's. . ms can make us sleep as well,” (“Death”), which demotes death to an even lower level, saying that if a person needs sleep, death is just one among the available options like potions or drugs. Furthermore, Donne writes: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally,” (“Death” 13), which is an allusion to the religious belief in eternal life after death.

This line again makes fun of death by showing how it can be easily defeated by something eternal, and that death is just a temporary phase. In Dickinson's poem, on the other hand, the poet compares death to that of a journey: “The carriage held but just ourselves / And immortality.” (“Because” 1.3-4). Here, Dickinson sort of considers death like a natural occurrence that leads toward a better situation --- immortality. Again, the metaphors used depict the great contrast in Donne's and Dickinson's portrayal of death.

Death and Wordplay Wordplay or figurative speech also play a significant factor in comparing the viewpoints of both poets regarding death or dying. For example, in Donne's poem, he writes: “Rest of their bones and soul's delivery.” (“Death” 8), wherein “delivery” is a double entendre that could mean either delivery from the harshness of life, or delivery of the soul into eternity. This wordplay is a witty course toward the common association of life to death, and vice versa. Another example of wordplay here is the word “proud” (“Death” 1) wherein the poet appears to sound condescending toward death and its actions.

Additionally, Donne describes death as “mighty and dreadful” in line 2 but is, as mentioned above, demoted to something that is temporary, and is easily surpassed by a process that is so natural, and better, such as crossing toward the eternal realm: “One