Read the given lines carefully and choose the option that correctly identifies the figure of speech used:-
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Apostrophe
The lines open John Donne’s Holy Sonnet "Death, be not proud", in which the poet tells Death that it has no real power.
Apostrophe (figure of speech):
- Apostrophe is speaking directly to an absent or dead person, or to a thing or an idea, as if it could hear.
- In "Death, be not proud", the poet turns to Death itself, calls it "thee" and "thou", and orders it not to be proud.
Example: O Moon, why do you hide behind the clouds?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor says that one thing is another; Death is spoken to here, not identified with something else.
Example: The classroom was a zoo when the teacher left.
Option 3: Onomatopoeia — Incorrect. Onomatopoeia uses words that imitate sounds; the lines have no such word.
Example: The bees buzzed around the hive.
Option 4: Metonymy — Incorrect. Metonymy uses the name of something closely linked in place of the thing meant; here Death is named directly.
Example: The crown announced new taxes.
Contrast: apostrophe speaks to Death as if it could hear; a metaphor would say that Death is something else.