Because I Could Not Stop For Death By Emily Dickinson And Dylan Thomas

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

In each poem, the poets share distinct views on the perception of death. While Dickinson’s poem, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, structures her poem to present her central theme of accepting death peacefully and agreeable. On the other hand, the poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by, Dylan Thomas uses rejection and denial in the process to present his poem’s theme. Both narrators distinguish death with detailed words or phrases. For example, in Dickinson’s poem she states, "Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me" (1-2).

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 theme of Dylan Thomas and W.B Yeats poems are about death. In Do Not Go “Gentle Into The Good Night” the author is telling his father not to die and to stay strong. He does this by repeating ”Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” In ” When You Are Old “The narrator said” And pace upon the mountain overhead And his face amid a crowd of stars.” The narrator is looking down on her from when he passed away.

"Because I could not stop for Death" is one of the most puzzling poems Emily Dickinson wrote. “Scholars who stress these subversive qualities note that this poet appropriated conventional language, images, and themes and twisted them, disrupting their usual meaning.” (Dunlap, 2) In this poem, she describes death in hindsight. She commentates the experience play by play, chronicling her actions and vision from the time he arrived to pick her up in his carriage to her final resting place. In the poem, the impression of death is not portrayed as scary or daunting, but rather more as tranquil and peaceful. In the poem, death took on the image of a person. Through personification, he was portrayed more like a male suitor picking up his companion for a date. Dickinson guided us to believe that the speaker in the poem is talking and describing her journey with death to us from beyond the grave. She leads us to believe that the speaker is ghost-like or a spirit who has accepted her death and content with her boundless eternity. It is not surprising that “Because I could not stop for Death” incites so much controversy in that it presents complex and multi-dimensional concepts of both life and death, both of which are too mysterious to be fully expressed. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson does personify both death and Immortality as people, and presents the process of dying as eternal life. However in a bizarre twist, she also personifies life. She brings

Emily Dickinson is one of the most important American poets of the 1800s. Dickinson, who was known to be quite the recluse, lived and died in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, spending the majority of her days alone in her room writing poetry. What few friends she did have would testify that Dickinson was a rather introverted and melancholy person, which shows in a number of her poems where regular themes include death and mortality. One such poem that exemplifies her “dark side” is, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. In this piece, Dickinson tells the story of a soul’s transition into the afterlife showing that time and death have outright power over our lives and can make what was once significant become meaningless.

“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson has written in 1863. Emily Dickinson was born in 1830-86, she is one of the greatest poets in American literature. Dickinson wrote love poems which it indicates strong attachment because of this it 's difficult to know if does poems where subjects of her feelings or just part of her poetic imagination. The different tension that comes from her work is due to the cause of not accepting orthodox religion, “the flood subject”- immortality, and her rebellious (Emily Dickinson). We can see that this poem is one of many that were later discovered because the title and the first line of the poem are the same. Death came to take the speaker into his carriage and drive around in it. By the first passing to a school where children play. Then passing grain field and looking at the sun. The last stop is an old “house” getting eaten by the surrounding vegetation. Lastly, she comes to realize that centuries have passed, but only feeling like days, and moving to eternity (Dickinson). The meaning of “Because I Could not stop for Death” is that journey to death and its feelings. The separation of the stanza, it shows the different steps in how death feels and word choices.

“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” death is approached as a an easy topic to talk about.

He explains that their love is so strong that it will survive the distance. One example he uses to compare being away from each other is death in the literal sense. The main theme of this poem was the love between husband and wife, with a metaphorical theme to death. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” contains both themes, their roles are reversed. Death is the main theme continuing throughout the poem and is personified.

While she was busy with life, “Because I could not stop for death-“death made time for her “He kindly stopped for me-“. At this point the speaker has already died. She speaks of Immortality and Civility as traits of death. While she has her life flashing before her eyes she is getting to know death in the process. You can see how her attitude of acceptance changes the whole mood of the poem as she goes through her child hood while saying “We passes the School, where Children stove at Recess-“ This shapes our understanding to be one that is understanding to her situation. It’s as if she was thrown out a window but you can see she is peacefully falling or as if there is gratitude in her death where she is thankful that she doesn’t have to experience life anymore because of the trauma that can come with it. As she traveled through her life to the point where she came to her grave which I believe is “A swelling in the ground”. You can see that she feels complete. There are key words that make this poem useful in the comparison to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost like “Immortality and Eternity” to represent the forever

Emily dickinson was a young girl in the 1800s who liked to be at home and got homesick very easily. In the two poems that i am comparing she used death for the topic. Both of the poems i am reviewing talk strongly about death and the journey to getting there. While Emily was still a young girl she spoke strongly about death and often seemed suicidal. “Because I Could not Stop for Death’’ and “The Bustle in a House” by Emily Dickinson use mood and symbolism show her point of view on death.

Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson processes the life leading up to death and eternal life. The speaker is telling the poem many years after death and in eternal life. She explains the journey to immortality, while also facing the problem of sacrifice and willingness to earn it. The poem is succulent in alliteration, imagery, repetition, personification and rhyme. A notable shift in almost all of the poems direction occurs as well. By doing so, Dickinson, a poet in the American Romantics era, sets forward an idea that immortality will appear in the afterlife of an individual who believes so.

The speaker in "Beacause I could not stop for death," is a spirit or ghost of some kind. We as the reader are not made aware of that fact until the end. She is calmly reminiscing about the day of her death. She is very detailed in the imagery used in her recounting of that day. The spirit is very controlled in her tale and is at great peace with what happened. She moves through the story like the carriage that she and death shared in her ride to the grave. The situation with the spirit and death is very kind, death is a smooth man who is set on making the connection with her. It's not till the end of the poem that we notice the ghost is speaking of "we" instead of "he".

In “Because I could not stop for Death” the woman seems to anticipate everlasting life, and has found it. The woman in the poem has been taken away by death. It almost seems as if the lady is reminiscing through her life as a child, an adult, and then she finds death. The death portion of her life is represented by “We passed the setting sun” (12). Reading through the poems leads one to believe the woman was very comfortable with death and all it had to offer. The woman in the poem is so comfortable in her new state that time trickles by, feeling “…shorter than the Day” (22). The poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” represents a woman that has found peace with her everlasting life. The mysterious experience of death is revealed in both poems.

Who does not cower in fear upon the thought of death? Almost everybody does! However, people have differing views on the abstract idea of dying. In examining the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death? by Emily Dickinson and "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night? by Dylan Thomas, it is evident that the poets use contrasting and comparative techniques in their unique presentations of the concept of death. In the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death? Emily Dickinson presents the idea of acceptance of death, whereas in the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night? Dylan Thomas presents the idea of refusal and opposition to death. Despite the differences in theme, these two poets both use similar figurative language devices, such as