Emily Dickinson Embraces Death
BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove
He knew no haste
And I had put away My labor -- and my leisure too, For His Civility.
We passed the School where Children strove
At Recess -- in the Ring
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain
We passed the Setting Sun
Or rather -- He passed Us-
The Dews drew quivering and chill --
For only Gossamer, my Gown
My Tippet -- only Tulle
We paused before a House that seemed
Swelling of the Ground
The roof was scarcely visible --
The Cornice -- in the Ground
Since then -- 'tis Centuries -- and yet Feels shorter than the Day first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity
My first reaction to Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for death," is admiration for the poetic form. It is so perfect in it's rhythm and the way the words flow from beginning to end even through images are not immediately clear. I'm at once impressed because I can feel that huge ideas are packed into a small space. What is most obvious in the first reading is that the poem is about Death. Death is personified as the driver of a carriage. Death, or the unknown, is being transformed into familiar everyday life. The poem reminds me of Robert Frost because he, too, is a deep thinker on big questions like death, feeling the need to balance the known and the unknown, to bring abstraction into reality, death into life. This poem reminds me of Frost's poem
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, with it's famous line, "And miles to go before I sleep." Like Frost, Dickinson lines are memorable and epigramatic. Her words sound like great...
She dislikes the way that members of the church use the name God to enforce their own temporal values and thoughts of sin. Although Dickinson believed: "This World is not Conclusion," she added the caution that "Philosophy" and "Sagacity, must go" to explain the mystery of human existence. Every person must search for their own answers, beyond the confines of the rationality of the church (510). Dickinson honors Christ: "Men
Essay Topic Examples 1. The Personification of Death in Emily Dickinson's Poetry: Analyze the ways in which Emily Dickinson personifies death in her poem "Because I could not stop for Death," discussing the impact of portraying death as a polite suitor on the poem�s theme and tone. 2. Immortality and the Journey of Life: Explore the concept of immortality as it is presented in
Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson In many of her poems Emily Dickinson explores the theme of death. Death is the ultimate experience and reveals the truth about the nature of God and the state of the human soul. Dickinson personifies death in guises, from suitor to tyrant, and her attitude toward death varies from poem to poem, drawing no absolute conclusion about death's nature. The poet portrays death
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
In "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas argues that "old age should burn and rave at close of day," implying that individuals should not give in to death easily (Thomas line 2). In order to prove his point, and convince his father to fight for his life, Thomas provides various examples of men from all walks of life, who regardless of their past fought to live
Dickinson, however, approaches art and nature in a much different way. She does not attempt to assert herself or set herself up as "Amerian Poet" the way that Whitman does. Instead she wrote her poetry without ever once doing so for fame or fortune. She meditated on her relationship to her surroundings, her understanding of beauty, her admiration for truth, her appreciation of the essence of things. "The Sailor cannot
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