This sonnet is written in a combination Petrarchan/Shakespearean rhyme scheme. This convoluted and unusual rhyme scheme of abbaabbacddcae dramatizes the tension of the fear of death in the octave, sensationalizes the anger felt by the speaker in the quatrain, and hastily resolves it in the couplet. This unusual rhyme scheme also suggests that Death and the fear of it transcends countries. John Donne was raised a Catholic but became an Anglican priest. He uses a combination of rhyme schemes to show the religious connection between Catholicism and Anglicanism. Petrarch was Italian and was a devout Catholic. Shakespeare was English whe

In the third quatrain, the speaker mocks Death’s power. The speaker explains how Death is reliant on the acts of “fate and chance,” as well as servant to the whim of “kings and desperate men” (9). Fate and chance are both intangible forces that drive our lives. The poet theorizes that people should fear fate and chance more than Death. However, fate by its very nature is impossible to control. Chance is the result of unintentional actions and also cannot be controlled by mortals. However, mortals also deal out death; kings execute people while desperate men go on shooting rampages. In addition, the speaker taunts Death by stating that Death, rather than habiting a powerful place in society, dwells in the gutter with “poison, war, and sickness” (10). He explains that Death is so base and lowly that it should be mocked instead of feared. The speaker also explains that earthly inventions allow people to experience the pleasures of death without actually dying. Mortal beings have invented many narcotics and “magic” potions that will allow the user to be knocked out cold or to experience a sense of euphoria similar to death. Th

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