The speaker sharpens his attack and starts calling Death names, but he doesn’t fundamentally change his argument. That’s the case for 'Death, be not proud,' although the turn isn’t major.

Usually, the turn occurs at line 9 to coincide with the introduction of a new rhyme scheme. But, it’s also possible that Donne wanted the rhyme scheme to fizzle out at the same moment when death 'dies.' Another feature of a Petrarchan sonnet is a shift, or 'turn,' in the argument or subject matter somewhere in the poem. No one is sure exactly what Renaissance English sounds like, so it’s possible that they did pronounce the word this way. And, the last two lines don’t seem to rhyme well at all: 'eternally' and 'die.' You have to pronounce it 'eternal-lie' to make the rhyme work. He just sticks a rhyme in the middle of the verse: very strange.

For example, line 13 has a word near the end, 'swell’st,' that rhymes with 'dwell' and 'well' from the previous two lines. If you look closer, there’s even more weird stuff going on at the end. But, 'Death, be not proud' finishes slightly differently. The Petrarchan sonnet has fourteen lines and a rhyme scheme that goes ABBAABBA and then, most frequently, CDCDCD. Shakespeare, for example, uses a different form of the sonnet, which we call 'Shakespearean' for that reason. But, just as with rock 'n' roll, new poets keep fiddling with the sonnet form, tweaking it slightly to fit their needs. This 14th century Italian poet isn’t the first person to write sonnets, but he makes the form popular all across Europe, including England. You can thank Petrarch for all the sonnets you have to read in school.

Iambic pentameter italian sonnet