Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

She is somewhat prepared to meet her demise. Although the tone of the poem is mainly calm, it does change as the speaker becomes closer to death. It is also very ironic because the speaker is referring to death in blithesome imagery. “We paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground the roof was scarcely visible the cornice in the Ground “ (5.1-4) the speaker refers to her grave as her home. The fact that she characterizes her grave as her home shows how comfortable she is with the idea of death. In the first three stanzas the poem is very relaxed. The usage of words such as “kindly” (1.2), “slowly” (2.1) and “civility” (2.8) give off an attitude of comfort. Furthermore in the 4th stanza the reader can recognize the speaker growing cautious as she begins to question her life and what exactly are the intentions of her companion. As the poem reaches the last stanzas the tone shifts from the once calm and casual tone to a more sad and serious resonance. The speaker is coming to the realization of her inevitable destiny.

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

In the poem “Because I could Not stop for Death”, Emily Dickinson describes death as an experience that she is looking back on. Dickinson uses a variety of elements, such as personification, imagery and irony to get her point across that death is not a dreadful event, but actually a pleasant experience. Although death is often perceived as being depressing and frightening, it should be viewed in a positive way realizing that it is the beginning of eternity.

The critic Sharon Cameron points out two outlooks to take on the first line of "Because I could not stop for Death". In one respect, the assertions of the speaker that she "could not stop for Death" must be taken as the romantic protest of a self not yet disabused of the fantasy that her whim will withstand the larger temporal demands of the external world. In another respect, we must see the first line not only as willful but also as the admission of a disabling fact. Cameron states "the poem presumes to rid death of its otherness, to familiarize it,

"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

In "Because I Could Not Stop For Death," the narrator describes how she is accompanied by Death, who is described as a gentleman caller. The narrator notes, "Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me.../We slowly drove, he knew no hast/And I had put away/My labor, and my leisure too,/For his civility" (Dickinson lines 1-2, 5-8). Through this description, the narrator is able to establish a somber, yet accepting tone in which she does not feel that she has to fight death, but rather accept it as a part of life. Through the narrative of the poem, the narrator is able to demonstrate change through the different landmarks that she passes on her journey. In the poem, change is emphasized through the anaphora that is used to describe the carriage's journey. For instance, the narrator notes

Throughout “Because I could not stop for Death” readers encounter Dickinson’s uncertainty regarding death. From the first line, she is timid about “Death” and cannot allow herself to stop for him. Therefore, “He kindly stopped for [her]” (Dickinson 2). Not only to readers see this doubt, but also here readers become aware that Death is personified. Dickinson represents death as a person so that readers will understand the gravity of the subject. In the following lines, Dickinson writes, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves –/And Immortality” (Dickinson 3-4). Here the carriage is the chauffer to the grave, and is given important notice. Although immortality is mentioned, it seems to be more of a suggestion of Heaven or Hell to insinuate the author’s faith. In the next line,

Dickinson gives Death many characteristics that help to shape our image of him. The line "He kindly stopped for me" in the first stanza, immediately gives a male gender (2). This male image gives the reader the traditional idea of the gentleman caller. This line also reveals a kind quality of death. The kind quality is important throughout this poem because it allows the speaker to

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

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.”

Throughout literature, Death has been portrayed by rich array of personifications usually taking the form of a malevolent being such as a grim reaper, ferryman, hunter, or horseman. In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death," the speaker reveals her calm acceptance of death by personifying death as a polite suitor who has called upon her. She casts an air of anticipation and acceptance of death, rather than fear, as he accompanies her on a carriage ride to eternity. The protagonist speaks from the grave and manipulates the words in order to create powerful images that add to the global theme of the poem. In "Because I could not stop for Death," the speaker, using strong symbolic figurative language and vivid imagery, reveals her notion of death and the infinite beyond as an expected part of the endless progression of the circle of life.

Death awaits the speaker during the light of day. According to the poem, “We passed the School, where Children strove/ At Recess – in the Ring” (9, 10). Soon after, “We passed the Setting Sun” (12), which then leads to, “Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet/ Feels shorter than the Day” (21, 22). The author does this to show that we rapidly misplace time and all of its value.

     Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American History, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice.

The first line of stanza four “Or rather-- He passed Us—“ (l. 13) demonstrates that the speaker is uncertain about her existence in the world. Now she feels that her life symbolized by the sun is passing by. She becomes chilled by the “dews” (l. 14). Lines three and four in this stanza illustrate the reason for her coldness. The speaker is attired in a light “Gown” (l. 15) and cape or “Tippet” made of “Tulle” (l. 16), which is a kind of thin, transparent, open meterial. When people die,

“Because I could not stop for Death-” is the more famous of Dickinson’s works. The poem is her attempt to visualize the process of actually being dead. As a narrative, the unknown Speaker of the poem describes how the literalized manifestation known as Death “kindly stopped of me-”. Death picks the Speaker up in a carriage and they ride away together – “The Carriage held but just Ourselves — And Immortality.” In this way, Death has been compared to both a suitor and a seducer for the speaker. After all, the Speaker did not actually choose to die and was not even contemplating the end of life. Rather, Death chose the Speaker. The suiter/seducer interpretation provides a double-meaning wherein can be viewed as both the natural progression of life and also the destructive violation of it. Immortality is the third person