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Sonnet Analysis
Death Be Not Proud
Poetry has been used to explain events and phenomena in life. This literary genre is one of the oldest and most appreciated across the world. “Death Be Not Proud” is a classical metaphysical poem put together by John Donne. In this detailed piece of work, the poet has employed the conventional poetic display by writing this poem as a Petrarchan sonnet. This structure gives impetus for Donne to deliver a solid and unique message about death to the audience. Using the symbol of death, the poet goes into details of this taboo topic and delivers a rather unique point of view. Using a callout analysis, this paper will analyze the structure, theme, style, and motifs in the above poem.
The poem “Death Be Not Proud” follows the conventional sonnet structure, using a rhyming octet and a summing sestet. The above structure allows the persona to introduce the issues at hand in the first part of the poem where death and its characteristics are discussed at length. In the ottava rima, the reader is shown the contempt that the persona has towards death. Later in a loose iambic sestet, the persona summarizes and gives a conclusion to the poem. In these final lines of the poem, it becomes clear that death should not be feared or seen as greater than other aspects of life. Instead, he states that death is subject to fate, poison, and war. This comparison further cements the loathsome attitude the persona has towards death.
The main idea in this piece of literature is to expose and expound the feelings of death. According to Donne, death has been given undue attention. This is because many people are afraid of dying for no apparent reason. The persona has a contrary point of view, being opposed to the fact that death has been idolized. Death is compared to sleep and rest; this is done to lessen the effect that death has on human beings. In an oxymoron, the persona equates death to happiness and freedom. This is not the reality as people are afraid of death and its repercussions.
Into My Own
“Into My Own” is a master poem by Robert Frost. This poem has taken the sonnet format and deals with a social theme about the young. It has employed metaphors such as the dark forest and light at the end of the tunnel. Moreover, the poet has used irony as a figure of style to help fortify and deliver an unyielding message of a young person in a freedom chase. This poem highlights the life of a young lad wishing to explore and move into the strange world. In this light, this paper analyzes the major poetic aspects in the poem.
The poet has perfectly used the sonnet format. Frost has also maintained the regular rhyme scheme in the entire poem. Just like all English sonnets, this piece has satisfied the conventional Shakespearian sonnet formatting. In the first eight lines, the poet has presented a young man wishing and longing for freedom and liberty into the world. The persona is willing to make a maiden trip into the dark world, which seems fully packed with possibilities and new chances. In this journey, the persona is in a state of panic and disquietude for not knowing what lies ahead of him. It is also ironic that those left behind are expected to follow him. The above request is seen as a mission to seek allegiance and long lasting ties with those who will support him after departing. Those who will seek him in his new status are his true friends indeed. This poem ends in an optimistic chord. The persona talks of being independent and free in this new world of possibilities. In a nutshell, this sonnet has clearly spoken from a young person’s point of view. In a short message, the poet shows the dreams and aspirations of a youthful soul in the freedom quest.

Sonnets
Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud
By John Donne
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Into My Own
By Robert Frost
One of my wishes is that those dark trees,
So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,
Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom,
But stretched away unto the edge of doom.
I should not be withheld but that some day
Into their vastness I should steal away,
Fearless of ever finding open land,
Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.
I do not see why I should e’er turn back,
Or those should not set forth upon my track
To overtake me, who should miss me here
And long to know if still I held them dear.
They would not find me changed from him they knew–
Only more sure of all I thought was true.