Figurative language is necessary to convey the exact meaning in a detained and artistic manner, yet concise and to the point manner to the reader. Although the meanings depicted may
relate but the true meaning will always be grim and bleak. In John Donne's "Death Be Not
Proud" and William Shakespeare "That Time of Year", through tone, diction, and imagery
express the speakers true feelings toward death.
Imagery is used to pain a mental picture or image for the reader. In "That Time of Year"
the poem setting is late August almost winter which paints a image already in the reader which
depicts the passing of fall to winter as a metaphorical death of his youth and passion as a young man. "When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang". "In me you can see the glowing embers
that lie upon the ashes remaining from the flame of my youth." The preceding quote tells that the
older mans youth is nothing but embers left from a once great flame depicting that he is close to
death. This shows that the speaker knows that death is coming and its destructiveness. On the
other hand "Death Bed Not Proud" is humorous compared to "That Time of Year". Throughout
the poem he addresses death as if death is a figurative person. "Thou art slave to fate, ance,
kings, and desperate men", the preceding quote paints a mental image in the readers mind that
powerful kings, fate, change, and desperate men are the master of death and death is their slave.
Throughout the entire poem Donne retain the same confident attitude, which states that
death is a morally inferior thing through diction. The speaker links certain inferior words that
describe death such as "poor" and "slave". The diction that Donne choose is almost mocking
death. Donne also uses diction to link death "personality" with arrogan...