Death

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The poem I’ve chosen is “Death” by John Donne.

It’s a little bit difficult to decide what kind of poem this is because the rhymes doesn´t flow in a good way. But in the end I’ve decided that this poem must be an elegy one, it could also be a mixture of a sonnet and elegy.

The main subject in the poem is death, but it is about that death really is a thing in life or a spirit, who is lead by someone. The poem tells:

“ From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be, Much pleasure, then from the much more must flow;”

When I’m reading this poem I think about death as something that is including our life and that it’s also something good, something you should look forward to. Death is a very big thing that comes over you with a big gap. It eats you up in one piece and you can’t get out from there. Every human has to stand this part of life. I quote from the poem:

“Mighty and dreadful, for thou art so”

The quotation above tell us that the men want to blackmail death. They fear death but are trying to convince themselves that death is something that can’t get them yet and that it’s not so mighty and powerful as it sounds.

When I look at this poem and the way it’s told I get a picture in front of me that shows a soldier praying for victory. He wants to keep his war- friends for his whole life and he wants to get away from the battlefield.
But I also think that this man could be a soldier that survived the war and he is asking God why he took all his friends but not himself, sitting at the graveyard surrounded by crosses. The things he remembers from the battle are blood, screams, horses, swords and soldiers.

The layout of the poem is not very impressive.
But the way this poem is written is good because the author doesn’t unveil every thing in the beginning. He writes in a way that makes you think and get an own picture at first and after that he gives you a new statement, that makes you think in another way.

I think that the rhyme in this poem is a little bit particular. The form of the rhyme is:

ABBA ABBA CDDC AE

When I read the poem I can’t find a really good word that beats more than another. I read it in the same tone all the time and it’s about death and that’s a sad thing so then you get a low tune.

There are some personifications in the poem:

“Death, be not proud, though some have callèd thee”: The meaning of this line is that death shouldn’t be glad because of someone has died and because of that he have killed someone.
This tell you that death is nothing big. It’s nothing to be proud of. It’s nothing you want to meet in life; it’s nearly a shame.

“Die not, poor death; nor yet canst thou kill me.”: We can discuss if this is a personification or not because it depends on what you believe in. Is death a thing or a person who walks around and takes peoples life? I would say that it’s a thing, something spiritual and because of that it can’t die. But when you read yhis kind of text you start to think what you believe in and what death really is. Perhaps it´s that the author wants you to do.

This poem is about something sad in life, that’s for sure but it’s hard to chose and pick one particular subject. But as I told you in the beginning I think the poem is about war and how it effects people. The picture of a man (at the battlefield, perhaps) falls on his knees and cries out his feelings for God. Before all this he was a part of something but now he was alone. His friend had betrayeded him, or was it God himself? Why did you leave me here? he asks. He thinks:

I wasn’t better than anyone else, I fought for my country but now it’s worth nothing at all!

He looks around and all he can see is dead bodies all around him. Blood, swords, dead animals, weapons and enemies who are fleeing.

The message in the poem is that you never have to be afraid of death. It’s something that includes life. We don’t know what happens after we’d died (perhaps that’s a good thing for our fantasy). You should never make a big thing about death it’s something as normal as to eat. You don’t have to fear it, you should think of it, (everyone does), but you have to see it as a positive thing in life. Sometimes you feel alone, (as the man above), but your turn will always come and if you are lucky you will meet your friends in the sky.

I’ve chosen this poem because of the language and the way it’s told. I don’t know why, but I like it.
It’s both hard and easy to analyse this piece of poetry. You can think in so many ways but I got stuck for one idea amidgetly this time.
I think tha...