Question

Read the excerpt below from Sonnet X by John Donne and answer the question that follows.

Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for, thou are not so . . . .

Source: Donne, John. “Sonnet X.” Bartleby.com. Bartleby.com, n.d. Web. 8 June 2011.

Explain the poetic techniques used in the opening lines of John Donne’s Sonnet X.

Answer 1

The technique used by the author is the use of a figure of speech, specifically personification.

Step-by-step explanation:

The personification is a literary device that allows the author to provide inanimate objects, animals or anything other than human, human characteristics, or the ability to perform tasks closely related to human beings.

An example of this can be seen in the passage shown in the question above, this, because the author talks to death, as if death had the capacity to hear, which is a capacity related to human beings. In addition, the author of human characteristics is death, saying that people believe that it is powerful and terrible.

Answer 2

The techniques used are as follows

Use of the imperative to address Death: Donne appears to be talking to a person in a reproachful tone.

Personalisation of Death: Telling Death how to feel makes Death a person.

Finally, the use of the apostrophe is another techique used by the author.