“Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Apostrophe
Personification
Comparison
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

Holy Sonnet 10 is a work by John Donne that he devotes to his vision of man’s relationship with death. He addresses it directly, pointing out its shortcomings and insignificance, whatever role death may have in the world. Donne seeks to show that death, as understood by man, needs to be rethought because there is nothing scary about being mortal. Donne uses three critical poetic devices to dialogue with death: apostrophe, personification, and comparison.

Apostrophe

The apostrophe is a poetic device to address someone who is not actually present. John Donne refers to death; for him, it is always an animated image: this can be seen in the fact that death is always capitalized (Donne 4). Death never hears Donne, but his aim is to show that death is only an event. Instead, Donne tells “death, be not proud,” because, in his reality, it is not “mighty and fearful,” but merely a phenomenon (Donne 1,2). Probably for Donne, death is a pathetic being who wants to be bigger and stronger than he is. In his view, however, it is only liberation and a way to move into a new existence: “soul’s delivery” (Donne 8). Death can observe this, and it has no power to affect what Christianity calls the soul’s repose. Consequently, the apostrophe allows Donne, through dialogue with death, who cannot hear him, to show that he is not afraid, as he should be.

Personification

Personification is a poetic device that endows an inanimate phenomenon with the attributes of a living one. Donne uses this technique to show that death is not a companion at the end of the journey but only one who guides one onward, allowing one to move on to a better world (Donne 3). Death is not horrible because with it goes “our best men” (Donne 7). Their souls become free, and death escorts them to that freedom. However, its personality is stingy and dull; it is “thou art slave to fate, chance,” and it is not something magnificent, though it wishes it was (Donne 9). Donne endows it with the same fate it brings to people: “death, thou shalt die” (Donne 14). Once again introducing the Christian motif, Donne says that death will die because all the best people will know eternal life. Consequently, Donne uses personification to humiliate death and show her mortality and inconsistency.

Comparison

Comparison is the analysis of the characteristics of several objects and assessing their similarities and differences. Donne uses it to analyze the differences between the conception of death and the rest. Sleep, rest, and death are similar because they are only images people immerse themselves in and enjoy. Donne points out that death brings a long-awaited rest from the mundane and allows the soul to be transported (Donne 8). He reduces it to a meager individual who does not bring as much pleasure as “poppies or amulets,” so no one fears or respects it (Donne 11). Donne compares death to sleep and rest because he wants to point out its similarity to mere dreams and ways of resting.

Conclusion

Thus, the central theme in Holy Sonnet 10 is death, which does not represent anything meaningful. John Donne uses the apostrophe to address death, although it never appears directly. He uses personification to show death’s reality and that it also faces it like everyone else being takes away. Finally, he uses juxtaposition to show her similarity to the rest to whom people aspire for the knowledge of eternal life.

Work Cited

Donne, John. “Holy Sonnets: Death, Be Not Proud”, 1633. Poetry Foundation. Web.

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“Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne

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