Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830. Except for a few months of travel, she remained in Amherst until her death. Dickinson began, in her twenties, a gradual retreat into the confines of the homestead, the house in which she was born, until for the last fifteen years of her life she didn't leave its grounds and saw no one but her brother and sister. As her withdrawal intensified, Emily's principal method of communication was through her letters. Emily Dickinson died on May 15, 1886 after an illness. ( Harold Bloom 11 - 13) Modern readers are apt to comment upon the frequency with which Dickinson returns to this subject of death. (Wolff, Cynthia, G. 749) "Because I could Not Stop For Death" was written in

The poem “Because I Could Not Stop Death” by Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poems since high school. I chose this poem due to the fact that that Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets, I personally love her dark, and mysterious poems. Indeed, people believed she was a little messed up in the head, but I believe she was just misunderstood. Additionally, this poem definitely brought back terrifying memories. When couple years ago, I got into a horrible car accident with a drunk driver, the accident was so traumatizing that I recall seeing my life flash before my eyes, it was like my soul was retracing my steps. In this poem, Emily is in a carriage riding around familiar places that she was been to since she was a young child, which to me it sounds like she was retracing her steps. It does represent a personal value due the fact that I believe life is short and one really never knows when it is there time to go.

In this poetic exploration Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson; the assumption of accepting death has been the ultimate interpretation of this poem. Clarification/evidence has given readers an idea that death is unavoidable and that eternal darkness is what awaits after death. Some might say death is a sinister man who only takes your life out of spite, but others would object and lure other pears to be optimistic to the true meaning of death. In a different perspective Dickinson’s poem could be understood as “rebirth”. Death being a blessing, as a result of an awakening to an afterlife, “new beginning”. Depicting this poem many interpretations can lead to many different ideas. The strategic poem Dickinson wrote allows you to appreciate her examination of death as a positive outlook.

"Because I could not stop for Death" is a poem by Emily Dickinson that gives the reader an interesting take on death. The speaker in the poem gets in a carriage and rides along with a gentleman who is the personification of death. On the carriage ride, they pass many of life's gifts and ride off into eternity. Dickinson's vision of death in this poem implies that the worries and joys of life will be gone in the afterlife, death will come unexpectedly, and that death will leave an individual riding eternity reflecting on a single day.

Emily Dickinson is known for writing poems that relate to death and dying, and the poem “Because I could not stop for death” is no exception. This is a narrative poem that illustrates the passage from life to death as a carriage ride through a quiet town. In this particular poem, the speaker has already passed away and is remembering what seems to be a fond memory, however that is not revealed till the final stanza. There are only two characters, The speaker and Death. The speaker is a lady who is reminiscing on a carriage ride she took with Death. She conveys her ride in a very light manner, almost as one would of a pleasant first date. Her tone is very calm and she seems almost at ease, as she and Death take a slow ride through town. She introduces Death in the first stanza as if he was a gentleman with manners. Throughout the entire poem Death is personified as a polite man. This is first implied in Line 2 when the speaker says “he kindly stopped for me-”. Hearing this can also suggest to the readers that the speaker is not afraid of death but perhaps even relieved “he” had finally arrived. There is no evidence to suggest how this particular lady in the poem died. However in Line 5, when the speaker says, “We drove slowly- He knew no haste”, could be inferred that she died slowly, maybe from a terminal sickness. As they are riding along they pass children playing in the school yard, fields of grain, and the setting sun. Finally at the end of the poem, they reach their

“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson shows a woman’s departure from life and her passing into the hereafter. Dickinson uses what would have been a very familiar setting for anyone, a carriage ride with a suitor and a chaperone, to symbolize this journey. She uses other familiar images so that the reader is able to visualize them and understand that they represent stages of her life. A brief glimpse of the final destination is shown to the reader who is left with a feeling of peace at the journey’s end.

For this weeks poetry discussion board I decided to analyze Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Emily Dickinson and Love and Friendship by Emily Brontë.

Emily Dickinson was an eccentric poet that was reclusive and published very few poems in her lifetime. Because I could not stop for Death is about a man taking a woman towards her tombstone where she died. I heard a fly buzz – when I died is a short poem about someone dying and being peace about it, when a disturbing fly enters and ruins her soothing passage into the other world. My life closed twice before its close is a narration of someone who has been through two traumatic events before death and it afraid of a third. Death is the only escape.

“Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” by Emily Dickinson, is a story-driven poem that centers on the author’s death. When she passes, she has difficulty letting go so Death takes her on a visual journey through her life to help her accept her fate. “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is a poem border lining on a short story that details the author’s life flashing before her eyes. “Life is the illusion, death is the ultimate truth” (Unknown); this is the assertion being made come the opening of “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.”

In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, by Emily Dickinson she talks about a dark subject which is death. Emily created six stanzas in this poem. The first stanza talks about death visiting her in a carriage that is reserved for only her and death. The second talks about her and death is driving slow, death makes it known that there is no need to rush so Emily goes at death’s pace. In the third one they past a school where children are at recess in a ring, she starts to talk about the places they pass along the way.

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.

Emily Dickinson’s poems are shorter than most, but that does not mean that they lack depth or skill. Dickinson uses many brilliant literary techniques in her poetry such as allusions, personification, juxtaposition, metaphors and so many others. Her unique use of symbolism throughout her poems really makes the reader think twice on what they are reading. And since the majority of her poems are short, it makes it easier to reread the poem numerous times. In Emily Dickinson’s Poem, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Dickinson uses a personified version of death to lead the speaker of the poem through a journey to the end of her life, that involves the contrasting concepts of time and eternity.

In the nineteenth century, the world of poetry was evolving rapidly, and many American poets were beginning to expand their horizons by breaking the traditional writing methods of conventional poetry. Famous American poets such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost tend to focus the central theme of their poetry on the utter truths of society, tragedy, and the reality of life and death. Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost are renowned for their unorthodox poems, which contain many themes relative to love, the natural world, loneliness, and the loss of life. One of Emily Dickinson’s well-known poems is, “Because I could not stop for Death,” which focuses solely on death and its steady, overlooked manifestation. Likewise, Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping

The romantic period in literature is a time where imagination and emotion took dominance over all other things in writing. Instead of including strictly reason and fact, they romanticized it, made it more flowy, artistic, and imaginative. We ready many works from popular poet Emily Dickinson, including her piece “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” she romanticized death. She depicted death as just an everyday gentleman suitor and made death seem calm as she accepted it. She described herself going into death as a carriage ride into Eternity. She represented death as a calm and serene act when it is commonly depicted as a more fearful and scary act.

Death is personified as a chauffeur and then a friend. The trip was slow and leisurely. Death is natural and peaceful, it is not a thief of life, it is a guide towards death itself. One is never prepared to die, but one should not fear of death, it is a common treatment, when the time comes one have to accept his/her fate. "Because I could not stop for Death" presented a dark subject in a eccentric manner as it shows that the speaker presented no sign of fear - an amazing metaphysical treatment. The word "slowly", "century", "leisurely" and sun "passed" them, meaning the sun is moving faster than them. Everything that happened in the ride was the "past". The speaker is hinting an afterlife. not heaven or hell, like ghost wandering the "past"