Death, Be Not Proud

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

Immediately, I found the use of a literary technique at work in this poem.  This literary technique is personification.  The speaker is giving death human characteristics, telling it to "be not proud."  I believe that the reason for personifying death is to put it on a more personal level.  The speaker wants the reader to realize that he or she should not be afraid of death.  By personifying death, the reader is able to feel like he or she can feel no fear as if feeling no fear with a real person.  Another reason for why death should be not proud and we should not fear it is because with "one short sleep passed, we wake eternally."  Although we die, we will live forever in heaven or the afterlife.  Death should not be proud for thinking that it is taking people's lives because really it it putting us closer to eternal life.