Death, Be Not Proud, Though Some Have Called Thee by John Donne

      I thought that this was a Shakespearean poem, because the poems we've read in Literature during high school seemed to use apostrophe a lot. But it wasn't. I was actually pleased at the poem. It's main theme of mocking death really seemed interesting to me. It was as if the persona was not afraid to die. I thought to myself, "How many people would still be like that persona?" I bet I could count those persons with my fingers. The poem presents death as an alternative form of rest and sleep which seems absurd but if you think about it, is actually true. It also presents death as something that does not have the absolute power to decide on who experiences it. The last two lines awakened the Christian in me. I remembered the concept of eternal life that has been taught to me for several years. The persona ends in saying that death will be conquered through a new, eternal life. "Death, thou shalt die" seems really powerful on its own, and it really ends the poem on a strong note.