At the same time, he seems to satirize Death, to make light of Death's power, equating it with mere rest and sleep. For this audience, then, there is reassurance. It is, of course, this very surprise and shock that the speaker uses as a powerful emotional ploy, along with a list of arguments, to persuade. Death, thou shalt die. The speaker at first appears to stand between the Judicial and Ceremonial genres of rhetoric.
Death is powerless to prevent life.
The appeal to the audience, while largely logical, is also emotional. First, and most obvious, is the simple fact that the subject is one which could hardly be discussed unemotionally. The idea of Death is itself so powerfully laden with emotions such as fear, dread, sorrow, loss, etc. that it is nearly impossible to divorce a discussion of it from the emotions. The speaker in the sonnet skillfully uses these existing feelings to play upon and add to the emotions of the audience, for the emotional appeal is audience oriented. For Death, the emotional impact would have been devastating.