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Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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Many people have a true fear of death. Many are scared of pain associated with dying. Many fear where they will go after their passing. Death is inevitable and is the finish line that we all must cross at the end of our journey of life. Emily Dickinson was not afraid of the preconceived idea of death. In her poems, she presented the idea of death with much ease and comfort. She saw death as a stepping stone to the afterlife, not the end. In her famous poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” Dickinson's use of peaceful imagery, comforting metaphors, and personification to describe immortality proves that death should not be feared and that it is a natural part of human life. The Imagery used in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” welcomes …show more content…

“When Death and the speaker arrive at the newly dug grave, it welcomes them like a house, the swollen earth resembling a roof, the headstone like a cornice. The speaker who died for beauty quickly finds companionship in the grave- also characterized as a house, with rooms in which corpses are laid like guests assigned to bedrooms” (Barnsley 2). Here we see the clear metaphor of the house of death. The tone is welcoming rather than fearful and dark. It is evident that Dickinson did this on purpose to show that death is not something to turn your back to, it is comforting like a home. “I first surmised the Horses Heads Were toward Eternity-” (Dickinson 1). The metaphor about the horses heads could mean many different things to many different people. The reader does not know what eternity Dickinson believed in, but she did in fact believe that death was not the end. “Such an open end like this allows the listener to broaden their mind and develop their very own ‘theory’ of what actually is happening. While some might think that she is headed towards Heaven, or simply the place for a soul to rest in peace for the rest of their existence. The possibility is infinite. It all depends on one’s belief and definition of what afterlife is” (Ikhsanti 3). To many people, the thought of afterlife after their death gives them a sense of security and peace. Dickinson had peace with this and to her, death was natural and she clearly exemplified this in her

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Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” and Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” were two prevalent poems examining the expiration of human life. These two poems which share the corresponding theme of death are significantly differential in focus, symbolism, and imagery which, in turn, creates two vastly different tones. The way the authors perceive death and express their attitudes regarding the passing of human life are precise opposites of one another. In Emily Dickinson’s poem, a lady’s ability to calmly accept an inevitable promise of an afterlife is displayed, but Dylan Thomas’ poem speaks of a gentleman’s determination to fight to the very end while remaining solely focused on an earthly existence. Although

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So, Dickinson’s usage of allusions in the poem adds complexity to the idea of the afterlife after death. At the start of “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, the author uses personification to give death human qualities when the speaker did not want to pause for Death, so “He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson 712). Since death cannot literally stop for someone, Dickinson personifies death to make it seem like death is a person as well waiting for the speaker to join him, which adds to the complexity of the poem. As the speaker is reviewing

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10G COMPARATIVE ESSAY / BELLA FARRELLY Every single living being dies in the long run; this much everyone can agree on. What’s more contentious, however, is what follows death. Throughout “Spirits of the Dead”, Edgar Allen Poe employs emotive and vivid imagery to build an abstract and melancholy poem that grapples with the mystery that is death with, at surface value, remarkable despondence and fear. On the other hand, in “Because I could not stop for Death”, Emily Dickinson, along a dissimilarly clear journey to a fixed destination, meditates over the topic of death and the afterlife with matched intimacy and fixation.

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When Dickinson was young she thought of death as a kind, peaceful gentleman. She elaborates on this idea in her poem “Because I could not Stop for Death”, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me/ We slowly drove - He knew no haste,” Emily Dickinson uses the personification of Death in a way that bears resemblance to a classy, peaceful gentleman who is willing to slowly guide and patiently wait for a lady. Her wording also gives the connotation that she is young and in love with this gentle Death. This idea abruptly turns into hatred when she loses her parents.

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The first stanza of Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain” hones in on the noxious idea of Dickinson’s own death, through creating a sad and dark mood. The first line, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” talks about a loss of memories and images in her brain (1). It is as if her thoughts are gone from her mind, the most central and essential part of the body, and she is saying goodbye to them, like a funeral does for a person. Because she is a writer, not being able to express herself through words, which she uses her brain for, would be a nightmare for her. Dickinson’s diction choices, such as “treading” and “sense breaking through” portray an internal fight occurring, with sense finally being the concept to tip her over, making

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An English professor of Georgetown University, Judith Farr notes that Dickinson’s poems and letters “almost wholly concern flowers and those allusions to gardens often refer to an imaginative realm ... wherein flowers are often emblems for actions and emotions.” Although Dickinson writes poetry with the theme like flowers and gardens. Many of her work focus on the topic that is quite depressing, due to her loss of her friend and she suffers from depression. Death is an unpleasant stuff to talk about, but many of Dickinson’s poems deal with it, loss of friend and suffering from depression are the causes. Her poems allude to death by many means such as crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation and so on, which for some readers is not always enjoyable to

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“ Because I could not stop for Death” is a poem filled with rich language, symbolism and has deep meaning. Dickinson uses diverse

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In the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson, death is described as a person, and the narrator is communicating her journey with death in the afterlife. During the journey the speaker describes death as a person to accompany her during this journey. Using symbolism to show three locations that are important part of our lives. The speaker also uses imagery to show why death isn 't’ so scary.

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The cyclical symbols mentioned and the fact that “Death” is inextricably linked to “Immortality” shows Dickinson’s belief that there is a eternal quality to life despite its temporary nature. She mentions nothing specific of her time period and does not adhere to the typical rhyming conventions of her time; rather, she explores the timelessness of love, life, and death with choppy, simple, understandable language. The cyclical nature of life can be seen throughout all ages, and the words can be understood by people of all backgrounds, showing Dickinson’s ability to transcend her own world and provide insight into the core of humanity

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In “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson uses imagery and symbols to establish the cycle of life and uses examples to establish the inevitability of death. This poem describes the speaker’s journey to the afterlife with death. Dickinson uses distinct images, such as a sunset, the horses’ heads, and the carriage ride to establish the cycle of life after death. Dickinson artfully uses symbols such as a child, a field of grain, and a sunset to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. Dickinson utilizes the example of the busyness of the speaker and the death of the sun to establish the inevitability of death.

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