Emily Dickinson Literary Devices

Death is inevitable; it should not be feared but instead accepted, and this is the main idea and theme explored in Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death.” In the poem, Death is personified as a gentleman who “kindly stopped [stops] for me [her]” (Dickinson 2), “slowly drove [drives] … know[ing] no haste” (Dickinson 5), and with whom she stops at a “house that seemed [seems]/ A swelling of the ground” (Dickinson 17-18) or in other words, her grave. To begin the poem, the fact that Death is represented as “if he were a human being” (Evans 15) implies that it is humane. This contributes to the idea that death is not to fear. Later on, it can be concluded that this person has control over her as she describes how she “had put away / My [her] labor, and my [her] leisure too, / for his civility” (Dickinson 6-8), which implies that “everything that had once seemed so important and distracting now recedes in importance” (Evans 17), and how he “slowly drove [drives] … know[ing] no haste” (Dickinson 5), which gives “no clear sense of the underlying purpose of the journey or its ultimate destination” (Evans 16) and thus implies that only Death knows the path and destination of the journey. Both of these examples contribute to the fact that Death completely controls a person against its will and that it is inevitable. Finally when “we [they] paused before a house that seemed / A swelling of the ground” (Dickinson

Firstly, the repetition in the phrase “we passed” in the third stanza shows that the nature of humans is to go through different stages in life before death. Dickinson ends the third stanza with the line “We passed the Setting Sun” which is the last stage of life, death. This reveals that at the start, the first stage of life is to go through school, study and get educated. By the time humans grow up, mature, and grow old it is the setting sun; which means that life is almost over, the way the sunsets there is just a bit of sunlight left before nighttime (either rephrase the entire sentence or remove the highlighted part). Life is the same way; humans should not fear death because it is a normal stage of living. One of the main reasons Dickinson wrote this, is because she strongly believes that there is eternity and that afterlife does exist. She saw it as a glorious and exciting time because everyone would be in heaven. This view was influenced by her upbringing in a Christian home and was a Bible reader. Moreover, Dickinson refers to the grave as her house in the line, “We paused before a House that Seemed.” This exemplifies that Dickinson is very comfortable and pleased with the idea of death, leaving this life, and the afterlife. She experienced many family deaths in her lifetime, like her mother, father, and

Personification is a type of figurative language one uses to give abstract ideas human-like characteristics. Dickinson uses personification in this poem because it allows the reader to understand death in a more intimate way. Death became so real to her and to her contemporaries because of the time in which she lived. Through her life experiences, the poet became intimate with death. Because of all the disease and epidemics in her lifetime, many of her loved ones passed away. These deaths were very "intense breaks in her life" (Murray). Some critics suggest that the death of her cousin was the inspiration for this poem (Semansky). In any event, death had a large impact on Dickinson's life. This impact explains why she writes so descriptively about it. In this poem, death is personified as a gentleman caller taking the lady out for a carriage ride. This personification gives the reader a better image of the writer's idea of the coming of death.

Also In “Because I could not stop for Death” Dickinson is showing through imagery that she

“What is striking in the work of Emily Dickinson as one searches it for her beliefs is the frank, thoughtful, sometimes playful, but always direct approach which she makes to the problems of life, death, and immortality” (Humiliata 145). Dickinson gives her readers many concise works with dozens of underlying meanings, however the most prominent, is her compassion for her beliefs and religion. Furthermore, Dickinson ties her ideas of faith strongly to the natural world and her surroundings.

Dickinson personified Death, making it seem throughout the poem it was her friend. In stanza two, Dickinson writes, “We slowly drove, he knew no haste, / And I had put away / My labor, and my leisure too, / For his civility.” Dickinson is talking about how at the beginning of life, a person is not worried about death. Children and young adolescents do not think about death, which is what Dickinson is saying when she says, “We slowly drove, he knew no haste.” The carriage ride is a symbol of the author’s departure from life, as she is in the carriage with death and immortality. The second stanza reveals Bishop’s willingness to go and be with death, also she has come to turn with her own mortality. The portrayal of Death drives slowly for Bishop, allowing her to reminisce on her life. Death takes the author through the course of her life with a gradual and patient

In addition to poetic devices used, the poem has a structural pattern that deepens the meaning by adding emphasis. The poem structurally consists of six stanzas with four lines each. These stanzas use an 8,6,8,6 syllable scheme for most of the poem. In addition, each line is written in iambic meter meaning every second syllable is stressed. This is also a common syllable scheme for ballads and hymns. Knowing Dickinson’s background, this syllable scheme adds meaning as a ballad is used to narrate something and a hymn is a religious song or poem. In the poem, there are unsystematic capital letters and dashes in multiple locations. However, these capital letters have meaning behind them. In lines one and four “Because I could not stop for Death/And

She uses personification to make the topic of death more approachable. Dickinson words her work to where death can be used as a metaphor; she words death to have human quality which she uses to compare it to a carriage ride with a gentleman. You can probably hear the rhythm doesn't sound like an ordinary conversation. It sounds more like music, with a specific beat to it. That's because of the poem's meter she is using which is a very unique feature.

(14, 18). During this poem, Dickinson wants us to simply see her version of a person's trip during death. The imagery is supposed to lead us into seeing what the author is describing.

She believes death to be an unavoidable requisite for all living beings to eventually fulfill, and she writes “Because I could not stop for Death--(479)” to express her acceptance of this as well as imagine what she thinks the afterlife might be like. The lines, “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me – / The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality,” (1-4) state how death will find her someday even if she does not ever ask for it, as no one is immortal. She nonchalantly boards the figurative carriage alongside Death and remarks, “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 –,” (9-16). Dickinson frames death in a light and optimistic manner, in which she joins Death for a scenic journey to the afterlife. She portrays herself as casual and curious about this experience, and there is not one feeling of pessimism nor regret in Dickinson’s account of death when compared to that of Thomas. Putting forth her imagination and creativity, Dickinson also describes what the actual afterlife might be. The lines, “Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day / I first surmised the Horses' Heads/ Were toward Eternity,” (21-24) portray the

The language in this last stanza differs from the previous ones. In the beginning of the poem, Dickinson uses concrete imagery; however, she ends the poem with the process of dying and uses abstract language. This is a notable remark in the poem because it stresses the point of uncertainty in the experience of death. The speaker only guesses that they are heading towards eternity because nobody is really sure of what life after death is like. Although this stanza has a curious tone, the audience does not get a sense of fear when reading it; instead, it seems as if the narrator is comfortable with wherever she is going.

In the poem, the speaker asks questions about the “Morning.” In the first stanza, she asks “Will there really be a ‘Morning?’ Is there such a thing as ‘Day?’ Could I see it from the mountains if I were as tall as they?” Dickinson sounds like she has a doubt or worry regarding heaven or God.

The thought of death keeps some of us up at night seeing that we don’t know when to expect it, but Dickinson relaxes our nerves. She describes it to be calm, relaxed, at peaceful. Her choice of displaying the speaker to be so serene when death was coming her way, surely advises us to feel the same when it is our time. It comes for everyone, therefore instead of feeling frightened, acknowledge it and it will be peaceful. Not only did we have our whole life to live, Dickinson also provides us with reassurance that after reality, there is an afterlife, another reason to not be afraid of death.

Dickinson starts to form the image in her by brining her audience into “The Carriage” which held only “herself and Immortality” (3-4) Dickinson wants to begin to bring her reader into state of mind so they can understand her thinking. As a known recluse she must make an effort to invite her readers into her mind to take them on the journey known as death. She wants to build the image of what she believes death to be, and change how people think of the journey of death. As she continues her journey in the carriage with death, she describes how they “Passed the school/where children played” to “ the setting sun” (9-12) As she continues her ride with death, she continues to set the stage not only for her journey, but for the paradox between herself and the puritan faith on their ideas of death.

When one dwells upon the idea of death, many thoughts can come to mind. These thoughts can include peaceful, scary, inevitable, cold, and many other things. Being one of the only female poets of her time, Emily Dickinson is a profound writer and her poems are intricate works of art. In her poem, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” Dickinson uses strong diction and imagery to describe the intimacy an individual has with death when it is encountered.