Because I Could Not Stand At My Grave And Weep By Emily Dickinson

For centuries poets have been fascinated with death, it remains one of the most commonly used themes in poetry. Two poems which I believe offer exceptional interpretations of death through the female gaze are Emily Dickenson’s “Because I Could not Stop for Death” and Mary Elizabeth Frye’s “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”. Through the use of a discerning selection of literary techniques, these female poets are able to offer unique and complex interpretations of death, a theme female poets are often overlooked on.

“Because I could not stop for Death” is considered to be one of the great masterpieces of American poetry. Written in 1863, the poem was published in Dickinson's first collection, Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1890. Emily Dickenson

“Because I could not stop for Death,” is one of Dickenson’s most celebrated poems. The poem is about the deceased speaker reminiscing over her ‘date with Death’. The title in itself is a clue over the nature of the poem, we know from it that this will be a poem about death and that the speaker “could not stop” for it. This is effective as it tells us that the speaker did not have a choice – reminding us of our own mortality and how death is sudden and without warning. One of the major parts of the poem is the personification of death by capitalising the word as though it were a name. Dickinson uses the character of Death as an extended metaphor. Dickenson describes Death as a gentlemen suitor who has picked her up for a ride in a carriage, further details reveal that the two are by themselves. However, Dickenson uses personification again to surprise us in the next line by adding another passenger – Immortality. She shares the carriage with Death and Immortality, two opposites. This lets the reader realize that although Death is there to take the corporeal self, Immortality is there for her spirit, the speaker does not think of death as the end rather a step to eternal

The fact that she is under-dressed for this journey also reflects that she is under-prepared. This stanza repeats the message from the beginning line that she was not prepared for her date with death. The imagery of the cold “The Dews drew quivering and chill – “ symbolises death, Dickenson uses this to suggest the speaker is close to death.

The fifth stanza describes the speakers last stop, her grave. The house is a metaphor for the grave. Dickinson wants to enforce the idea that the speaker accepts and is comfortable with dying. Words like grave and coffin have been avoided as they have morbid connotations with finality and that’s not how the speaker feels about death. The cornice, the highest part of the house, is described as being submerged in the ground, meaning the home is her grave. Dickenson effectively uses this imagery to describe the speakers grave without using negative or morbid words that do not reflect the speaker’s