tates that Death is, as we, a "slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men," (9) which expresses his view that Death has no more power over us than these. This is due to the fact that Death cannot collect our souls unless these people act to cause our demise. Donne portrays Death as a scavenger who "dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell," (10) because, it is implied, Death must wait for these to act before it may do its deed. Donne then criticizes Death even more, when he says, "and poppy or charms can make us sleep as well,/ And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou now?" (11-12). This is a continuation of the comparison between Death and sleep, where Donne means that there are other ways to bring about a sleep state, some of which are more potent than Death’s stroke. He explains this statement when he says that Death is "One short sleep past, we wake eternally," (13) which is to say that the sleep of Death is short lived in comparison to that of an opium sleep due to our awakening to the afterlife. In the final couplet Donne explains what becomes of Death once it has taken our life. Donne says, "And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." (14) clearly expressing the fact that once Death delivers us through a short sleep to eternal life, Death itself is rendered useless and will "die." Throughout the poem Donne has chided Death about its pride, saying that it has no reason to be so. He has reduced Death to a short nap before the afterlife, so to speak. In essence, he challenges and criticizes Death for its pride; however, he does not welcome it. This is not the case in the poem Time by George Herbert. In his poem, Time, Herbert uses much softer language in dealing with the figure that represents death or time. Herbert speaks of a meeting with Time, which lends a much gentler and more equitable relationship between the poet and his subject. Upon first meeting Time, Herbert says, " ‘Slack thing…...
