Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Riding Alongside Death

In "Because I could not stop for Death," Emily Dickinson personifies Death and sees him as a gentleman caller that is accompanying her on her carriage ride, presumably to her final resting place. Like many writers, Dickinson personifies Death, however, she is able to accept death as a natural part of life and something that accompanies life. In the poem, Dickinson makes use of personification, alliteration, and anaphora.

In "Because I could not stop for Death," the narrator recounts how Death accompanies her on her carriage ride. In the poem, the narrator likens Death to a gentleman caller who does not press her to hurry up, but rather is patient. Death's chivalrous nature is expressed in the first two lines of the poem, "Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me…/We slowly drove, he knew no haste/And I had put away/My labor, and my leisure too,/For his civility" (lines 1-2, 5-8). From this point, after her introduction to Death, the narrator describes the carriage ride that she takes along with her companion Immortality. The narrator points out various things that they pass along the journey including "the School…the Fields of Grazing Grain…[and] the Setting Sun" (lines 9, 11-12). When Death finally is able to pass her carriage, near the end of her journey, the narrator describes the chill that she felt. She states, "The Dews drew quivering and chill -- / For only Gossamer my Gown -- / My tippet -- only Tulle;" the narrator is able to feel the chill due to the fact that she is not extravagantly dressed, but rather is wearing a simple gown and tippet, or a shawl (lines 14-16). The carriage ride comes to an end when they all stop in front of a house, however, this house is not a house in the traditional sense, but rather can be inferred to be a tomb. The narrator describes this house as "A swelling of the Ground -- / The Roof was scarcely visible -- / The Cornice -- in the Ground" (lines 18-20). The "swelling of the Ground" may refer to the mounds that form over a tomb due to the displaced earth with the "Cornice -- in the Ground" referring to tombstones that are placed at graves to mark who is buried where. Though the narrator acknowledges that she knew at the moment she encountered Death that her time was limited and it does not feel as though so much time has passed since that day.

Dickinson uses alliteration to help to emphasize certain things that made an impression on the narrator on the fateful day that she met Death. Examples of alliteration include labor and leisure in the second stanza; School and strove, Recess and ring, Gazing Grain, and Setting Sun in the third stanza; passed Us, Dews drew, Gossamer and gown, and Tippet and Tulle in the fourth stanza; and Since and 'tis Centuries, and surmised, Horses' and Heads in the last stanza.