Because I Could Not Stop For Death Literary Devices

It’s no secret that many of Emily Dickinson’s poems are about death and this poem is no exception. Many scholars believe that Emily Dickinson actually dealt with lots of emotional and mental issues such as agoraphobia, anxiety, and depression. Because I could not stop for Death is all about a woman’s journey to death.

Death is an aspect of life that everyone becomes acquainted with sooner or later. The poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” by Emily Dickinson, is seen as a reflection of the passing of time in one 's life while living. No one knows when it is their time to die, and we live everyday as if tomorrow it promised. Dickinson is saying that since we as humans tend to live on the expectation for tomorrow, we don 't think about the end of our life or when it will be. That time will stand still when, and only when, life draws to a close, yet it will no longer matter.

The first stanza concludes by stating, “The carriage held but just ourselves/And Immortality” (Lines 3-4). These lines are used to acknowledge that there is a difference between death and time, because while they work in unison they still are not one and the same. Time has control over our lives during both mortality and

Dickinson’s use of figurative language in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” contributes to the meaning of the poem. With the use of personification, symbolism, and examples of vivid imagery, she composes a poem which is both unique and captivating. The title and first line of the poem, “Because I Could

The Poem begins with a personification of death as "kindly" (3). By doing this, the speaker introduces a portrayal on death that might have conflictions. Most of the times, death has a negative connotation. Whether it is an inevitable or tragic view, it opposes to what is seen in the poem. The speaker accepts death as a friendly invitation when the time is right, rather than something that is bound to happen. The speaker then joins immortality, personified as a passenger in a carriage. Immortality simply cannot be a passenger as it is a non-living thing. The reasoning for this could be that immortality ties together the link between the speaker and death, ultimately introducing the voyage to come. The first stanza sets a precedent of a meter to follow throughout most of the poem. The first line contains eight

Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” is a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown. Critics call Emily Dickinson’s poem a masterpiece with strange “haunting power.”

Death is usually visualized as a frightening character, for example the grim reaper is used in many novels or films. The word ”Death” (line 1) is associated more than someone passing away since Dickinson gave death human characteristics. Its shown when “Death” (1) “Kindly stopped” (2) for the speaker instead of rushing the speaker to enter the afterlife. For the reason that “Death” (1) “Drove slowly…. No haste” (5) meaning that he was patient making it seem like it is a peaceful journey to eternity. Also, as the speaker is with “Death” in the carriage she mentions that he has “Civility” (8) which means that someone is formal polite in behavior toward

The subject of death, including her own was a very prevalent theme in Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters. Some may find her preoccupation with death morbid, but this was not unusual for her time period. The mindset during Ms. Dickinson’s time was that of being prepared to die, in the 19th century people died of illness and accidents at an alarming rate, not to mention the Civil War had a high number of casualties, she also lived 15 years of her youth next to a cemetery. Dickinson’s view on death was never one of something to be feared she almost romanized death, in her poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death”, she actually personifies death while narrating from beyond the grave. In the first stanza she states “I could not stop for

In “Because I could not stop for death” Emily Dickinson illustrates a romanticised view of death. Using her imagination and interpreting her surroundings, she is able to mock and depict a calm acceptance for death which is ideal to her. Incredibly enough, Dickinson presents death as a lustful experience. This is evidently shown throughout the poem as the journey to death appears in stanza one, she states; “He kindly stopped for me… carriage held but just ourselves and immortality”(Dickinson, 1-4). Through the use of these line, Dickinson is able to state to the audience a less frightening description of her gentleman who is personified as death. Using death as

Dickinson’s views of death come with a very natural feeling of dying, and at the same time uses personification, metaphors and symbolism to connect to the readers and make them understand how she views death. In the first couple stanzas of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, the speaker is representing the image of dying and how it’s very natural. In the first sentence of the poem, and throughout the

In Emily Dickinson’s poem, in line 1, 2 "Because I couldn’t stop for death –He kindly stopped for me" the word “death” delivers a positive mood as the speaker seems respect and awe death. Moreover, death is portrayed as a phenomenon that is beyond ‎human’s control. Death has its own control; it is something that human cannot decide themselves but only death can do stop for human, invite them into its carriage, not vice versa. In ‎addition, the word “kindly” in the line presents calmness to the readers as death is not something that human should scare off. Besides, the word "slowly" and the phrase "no haste" in

Throughout this poem, the author establishes a bleak and morbid mood concerning death. She mentions how she was too busy to stop for death, which I assume is the reason for death coming to her. In the beginning, she states, “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me…since then- ‘tis Centuries- and yet feels shorter than the Day,” which led me to the theme being that death comes for you whether you are busy or not. Unfortunately, I have heard of many people dying without completing goals or jobs that they had set for themselves before they died. Also, time is apparently different when you are dead because towards the end of the poem, she explains how a century felt shorter than a day. Even though I am not dead, I can relate

The emphasis on words such as “Carriage” and “Ourselves” in the first stanza helps paint Death as a soul who has the time and patience to slowly lead the narrator to eternity, rather than rushing so that he can get to the other souls who need him. It creates a very compassionate character, and helps to illustrate the point that one should not be scared of death.

Marie Rose Napierkowski and Mary Ruby wrote an article on Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” that included an interesting analysis and criticism of the poem (1998). The poem itself is of a woman that is given a ride with Death, and his chaperon, Immortality. They take the woman from her busy life to a house that is her grave.

When the speaker states, “Because I could not stop for Death—/He kindly stopped for me—,” she implies that most people do not stop to think about their death. People go on with their busy lives and do not talk or think about death because they are afraid of it. So Death must stop and “kindly” ask people into his carriage. After she went into his carriage, Dickinson goes on to portray what the speaker sees as she is dying. Contrary to the speaker’s busy and fast life, line five