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. In "Death, be not proud", the poet turns to Death itself, calls it "thee" and "thou", and orders it not to be proud.
| Option | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Metaphor | A metaphor says that one thing is another. Death is spoken to here, not identified with something else. | The classroom was a zoo when the teacher left. |
| (2) Apostrophe (answer) | Apostrophe is speaking directly to an absent or dead person, or to a thing or an idea, as if it could hear. | O Moon, why do you hide behind the clouds? |
| (3) Onomatopoeia | Onomatopoeia uses words that imitate sounds. The lines have no such word. | The bees buzzed around the hive. |
| (4) Metonymy | Metonymy uses the name of something closely linked in place of the thing meant. Here Death is named directly. | The crown announced new taxes. |