ipl-logo

Personification Of Death

778 Words4 Pages

The poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, written by Emily Dickinson, talks about how she isn’t afraid of Death and personifies it as a person. She incorporates her era of the time period my adding the realism of death and gives brief descriptions of her experience with Death. The poem briefly speaks about how that in the experience of death there is no sense of time which is why she was unaware that time has gone by since the day of her death. The poem was made in 1890 which made Death seem like a gentle man in a carriage that shows the path for the resting place for the dead. The literary devices used in this poem are what bring this poem together because of the way that they are used to describe her experience with Death and immortality …show more content…

Emily Dickenson describes death and immortality by capitalizing the first letter of the word which is only used when mentioning a name of a person, place, or thing. She expresses that she has no fear toward Death and Immortality. She would rather welcome them and live on with her life than to be afraid and live her life waiting for death. She describes Death as a kind and peaceful person that is helping her realize her death as he guides her to the house where the “swelling in the ground” only shows the roof of the house which symbolizes her tombstone. Dickinson also shows that there is no sense of time during death. This is shown when Death reveals that time has gone by since the time of her death and time does not pass the same way that the living world does. Her use in personification shows that death isn’t as dark and terrifying as it is made out to …show more content…

The use in imagery was used throughout the entire poem. The use of words like “recess/ring, setting/sun, gazing” etc. imagery was used so that the reader can put themselves in her shoes. She wanted the reader to feel content with death and not fear it. Imagery was used in all stanzas which helped understand what Dickinson wanted to depict. When she writes about how Death and Immortality “kindly stop” for her, she describes a slow drive passed different sceneries. Not only does it explain that there is no concept of time during death but it gives a lot of brief visual and onomatopoeic words that bring imagery to the reader mind. Her use in alliteration was one of the main literary devices that brought the greatest amount of imagery to the poem. Her use in personification also had a great affect in her imagery. Without it, the reader wouldn’t be able to know how or why she felt content with death and immortality. For example, the “swelling in the ground” represents her grave that she was driven too by a carriage that was “held by themselves” which represents her floating ghost. The “gazing/grain” and “setting/sun” show that she had been roaming around a country side and as the felt the “quivering chill” she was beginning to realize that she had been dead for some time. The “roof” of the barely visible house represented her tombstone as she got closer and closer to the “swelling in the

Show More
Related
613 Words | 3 Pages

But at the thought of death, a poem by Emily Dickinson comes to mind, and poses the thought, what if death isn't quite as ominous and foreboding as we believe it to be. Furthermore the poet, Emily Dickinson uses gentle language to describe death in Because I Could Not Stop For Death, an instance being “The Carriage held but just Ourselves”. This lighthearted language suggests a kinder idea of Death, one that drives a carriage instead of a hearse. Employing death as the commentator for this book makes sense, because death had its hands full during the holocaust, claiming over 11 million lives. And seeing this through the eyes of something who has seen it to the full extent provides an enlightening perspective.

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Dickinson personifies death giving him an identity. Dickinson capitalizes the word “Death” when it is used throughout her poem, “Because I could not stop for Death-”(1), she also refers the the two of them as two people together, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves”(3), combining these two writing strategies effectively allows Dickinson to give Death an identity in her poem. This identity gives Death more human-like characteristics. Thus creating a more broad spectrum of the occurrence of death and that it happens to everyone at some point and leads readers to become more accepting of the idea of death in her idea of Death. Opposing ideas are shown in jones’ writing.

Read More
954 Words | 4 Pages

In her poem, #465, Emily Dickinson’s speaker allows the reader to experience an ironic reversal of conventional expectation of the moment of death in the mid-1800s, as the speaker finds nothing but an eerie darkness at the end of her life. Although the author’s speaker reflects upon her life from beyond the grave, she remembers her final moments in the still room and suggests death is not as grandiose as anticipated. In fact, the speaker recalls the room, “like the Stillness in the Air — / Between the Heaves of Storm” (3-4). Here, the speaker compares the aura of the room in which she is dying to the calmness before a large storm.

Read More
438 Words | 2 Pages

First off, the passive atmosphere with which the speaker tells the poem leaves the impression that she is unconcerned about death. The passive tone is caused by her lack of control over death and this is shown in the very first lines of the poem: ‘‘Because I could not stop for death – He kindly stopped for me – ’’ She could not stop for death because it was not up to her to decide when or how death would come to here. In addition, death here is personified as a polite suitor picking her up in a carriage. Emily Dickinson did not portray death as a cloaked demon ripping away the speaker’s life. Since death is portrayed as a nice guy who came to offer his service, the speaker does not fear it and rather accepts it.

Read More
1547 Words | 7 Pages

In her poems, Dickinson employed frequent use of figures of speech, such as metaphors, alliteration, and paradoxes, especially when referring to death. In “’Twas such a little - little boat” (FR 152), the poet employs metaphors to subtly highlight the fact that Life is a journey of no return. The following poem also makes use of assonating rhymes, one of the characteristics that especially marked Dickinson’s work

Read More
1214 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
245 Words | 1 Pages

(1-6)”. Just in the beginning of the poem she describes those who are dead. She calls them sleeping and meek members, but she also calls them safe. In this poem of hers about death she does not write in gloom as compared

Read More
1264 Words | 6 Pages

A part of life that’s unavoidable is death; and it’s also true that everybody knows that the circle of life includes a beginning and end. Emily Dickinson accepted that death goes hand and hand with life, and she writes about it in her poetry as her own way of dealing with that idea. While she uses death in her poetry she uses it in different ways. For Dickinson, her poems, "I like a look of Agony", "Split the Lark - and you'll find the Music", "Because I Could Not Stop for Death",and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died" , shows how death is another way to discover the truth of a person. Emily uses her works to express her feelings and views of death.

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

Emily Dickinson used Death themes in numerous works. During this Era, a lot of poets wrote about this theme; I believe that one reason was because of the high death rate around the mid-nineteenth-century. Emily’s way of expressing herself towards Death is quite different, she uses dissimilar perspectives and how it impacts others. Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly Buzz- when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death”, are

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

The character in this poem, presumably author Emily Dickinson, says she cannot stop for death so instead he stops for her. She takes a carriage ride with him and Immortality, travelling slowly past many landmarks. Such landmarks include, a school, a field, and a house. Each of these locations represents a different aspect of death. For example, the house was symbolic of her coffin.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

Dr. Weinstein’s perception of Emily Dickinson’s poems gives great understanding to the layman reader that the poems are written as an aftermath of what was or is experienced. The poem “Because I could not stop for Death” is described by Dr.

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

The sunset in the poem is used to symbolize the ending of a lifetime. And the house that the speaker mentions is a metaphor for the final resting place. The usage of a house for this metaphor proves that the poem is not trying to portray death as frightening, as instead of choosing a coffin or a gravestone, she chose a symbol of familiarity and

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s poem “My life closed twice before its close” reveals the inevitability of death, hints on the idea of immortality in the afterlife, and describes the trauma related to the death of loved ones through the careful crafting of two paradoxes and usage of foreboding diction. The narrator presents the first paradox in the first line and title, “My life closed twice before its close” (Dickinson 1). This paradox exposes the idea that two traumatic events happened in the speaker’s life, but these events are not fully revealed in the first stanza. Later in the stanza, the speaker wonders if a third traumatic event may happen to them “if Immortality unveil” (Dickinson 3). The immortality described serves as a hyperbole to the length of time that the narrator felt passed after the events happened; during

Read More

More about Personification Of Death

Open Document