Death, be not Proud - Personification

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so" - John Donne

This poem personifies death in order to degrade it. The speaker is basically yelling at death; telling it how weak and powerless it is in his life. Death is not something to be feared. It is a "slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men". There are so many things in life, according to the speaker, that are more important and worthwhile than death. The personification of death throughout the poem helps the speaker to deal with the inevitability of dying. Since the man has faith, he doesn't feel the need to debate with death. It will "be no more; death, thou shalt die". It's basically a threat to death. The title itself is warning death to not be proud, because it really has nothing to be proud about. After hearing this, death should have little to no self confidence; it was pretty harsh.