Death, be not proud

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;"

This poem is an apostrophe. The speaker is directly addressing death. The purpose of the apostrophe is to directly tell death that it is not as mighty and powerful as others think. This poem compares death to pleasurable deep sleep, and says that poison, war, and sickness are the things that actually kill. Directly addressing death in such a desperate way contributes to the theme of the poem. The speaker is trying to convince himself that death really isn't as mighty as it seems, yet the speaker doesn't fully believe that. This is effective because it makes apparent the contradiction within the poem. It also contributes to the theme of desperately convincing.