"Death Be Not Proud" is a lyrical yet dramatic poem by Donne, a metaphysical poet whose verse is characterized by an intellectually challenging style (explored in "The Flea and a Valediction") and extended metaphors which usually compare very dissimilar things, Donne also uses his persuasive manner of logically organizing his ideas to express his ideas that death is not fearful at all. In this poem, Donne is speaking indirectly to death who has been personified and discussed as something not at all mighty and dreadful. Using the Petracan sonnet form with the rhyme scheme of AB BA AB BA (octet) CD CD (sestet), Donne treats death as nothing more than the human necessity sleep, exploring his ideas that sleep is just the miniature version of death, the most pleasurable activity any human can undertake.

Sylvia Plath's "Edge," however, is not a sonnet but is a poem created in...