"Because I Could Not Stop for Death," Emily Dickenson shows that death is not the end of anything, but the beginning of eternal life. The poet addresses death directly, presenting death as a character without going so far as to anthropomorphize death. Death is a "he," but he also appears as more a disembodied spirit or abstraction than a person. Nevertheless, the speaker is on intimate terms with death, who is presented as a kind companion or counterpart to life. Death is contrasted with life, with the latter being fleeting and the former being eternal. Whereas life is hurried and harried, death is calm and slow. Death represents eternity, whereas life remains trapped in time. Dickenson's attitudes toward death conveyed in this poem help readers to overcome their fear of death, and urge readers to reconsider how they live their lives too.When the speaker claims she "could not stop" for death, she suggests her life may have been moving too fast (line 1). On the contrary, death "knew no haste," and drives the carriage slowly (line 5). Her not being able to "stop for death," means also that she was enjoying life, and clings to it as most mortals do, and yet the speaker may not have been taking the time to appreciate the little things, which is why she states death "kindly stopped for me," (line 2). Death's "kindness" is a major and surprising motif in the poem, because death is rarely framed as being kind; death is usually a fearsome figure, a grim reaper who people go out of their way to avoid. Dickenson presents an entirely different, even opposite perspective on both life and death. Specifically, life precludes a person from experiencing immortality and death offers the opportunity to achieve immortality. Death is kind as a friend, leading the person from the illusory, transitory, and hurried nature of life toward the calmer, peaceful, eternal realm of the afterlife.
Death takes an active role in the poem, driving the speaker through visions that symbolize the richness of her life including the motif of a school -- a common dream symbol that draws the reader into recalling childhood and reflecting on life choices. As she considers what she has learned during the "school" of life, these visions morph into the speaker's eternal resting place, represented by a "house" in the earth, a "swelling of the ground," which is a grave (lines 17-18). Described as a house instead of...
Emily Dickenson This is a thoughtful post about Emily Dickenson's personal life, adding depth and understanding to her poetry. You mention difficult themes such as death in a sensitive way, drawing attention to the way such hardships and suffering might have influenced Dickenson's writing. I had not realized yet that she had so many loved ones die within a short period of time -- and you observe correctly that these deaths
.. "I could not see to see" (from Dickinson, "465"). Words; phrases, and lines of poetry composed by Dickinson, within a given poem, are also typically set off, bookend-like (if not ruptured entirely at the center) by her liberal use of various punctuation "slices" (or perhaps "splices" is the better word) appearing most often in the form of either short and/or longer dashes (or combinations of these), e.g.: "-"; and/or
A "setting sun" is a reference to the passing of the day into night (12). The word "passing" is repeated throughout Dickinson's poem. Repetition allows the poet to stress the meaning of the word, which in this case symbolizes the passing of all things in life. Yet Death distinguishes between that which is temporary (the setting sun) and that which is eternal (the sun itself). A new dawn is
And so in just a few lines the poet has taken the reader from her childhood, to the autumn of her years, and on to eternity. The sun was setting and first she says she was passing by the sun but then, changes her tune and admits the sun is passing by the carriage. How could the sun pass by a carriage that is moving towards heaven? "Or rather, he
Diskenson Insight In Emily Dickenson's poetry we share images that she sees, and hew viewpoint is often a bit odd, but useful in showing us what she feels. She often splits herself into the seen and the one seeing, as if part of her can observe from outside. In her poems, Emily Dickenson often pauses time and observes very small things, such as a fly and then she focuses upon one
Literary Devices in "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" recounts how Death follows the narrator along her final journey and though the title insinuates that the narrator does not have time to see what her gentleman caller wants, he is patient and is in no rush to complete his task. In the poem, Dickinson personifies Death and makes it clear that
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