Regarding History vs. When Death Comes

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.

I think that the moral of this poem is that life is precious, and that life should never be taken for granted. I think this is because the whole poem is comparisons between life and death, and because she says that the people who have passed away would do anything possible to come back to life, even under the worst conditions, to be loved, to love, and to be with the people they

Elizabeth Bishop’s poem First Death in Nova Scotia follows a small girl who is introduced to the concept of death for the first time through her cousin, Arthur. Even though the narrator is just a child who is experiencing death for this first time, she is extremely perceptive of her surroundings. The details and language the girl uses to describe the situation illustrates the difficulty the girl is having coming to terms with the idea of death, while also confusing her throughout the poem. The important concepts of death, grief, and loss of innocence are conveyed by Bishop through the encounter the girl is having with death. Bishop’s theme in the poem seems to be that death can be extremely sorrowful yet hard to understand and as such, people deal with these feelings in different ways, even children. The narrator, being a small child, naturally uses distractions in her surroundings and her figurative language to start to understand death at the end of the poem.

The literature of that time period set a precedent for how to use distinct poetic detail

While the poem speaks of death, the tone is very subtle and joyful because of the multiple imageries of nature through diction such as “bird,” “garden,” and “water.”

Emily Dickinson is well-known due to the fact that she uses an immense amount of death in her poetry; she is also known as being reclusive and death-obsessed. Although other poets don’t typically use large amounts of death in his or her own poetry, Dickinson decided to take her own path in order to get her point across; meanwhile, some found her obsession with death rather disturbing. On the other hand, death could be interpreted through various forms of symbolism. For example, death can symbolize things such as equality, religion, and journeys. Additionally, death can be used to express the loss of a loved one or even an internal loss of yourself, such as despair. Her poems about death

In Patricia Engle’s review of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Engle argues that Dickinson’s poem employs Death as a lover who takes whomever is reading the poem to “heaven”, if you will. She also posits the idea that our eventual death is just a state of mind and we do not all follow the same path to reach Death. The poem, at its core, is about the visceral fear of Death and not wanting to die. I disagree with Engle’s assessment. Engle’s take on Dickinson’s poem is an inaccurate one because it explains that Dickinson does not seem to be afraid of death, that Dickinson is very spiritually aware and even accepting of her eventual fate, and that Dickinson, or the speaker of the poem, has accepted death so he has “stopped” for her.

Around the world, people of all cultures, religions, and so on, each acquired their own beliefs on unique aspects of spirituality, and the life of a human and what happens after life on the planet. Though most people believe in a universal definition of life as being joyful, fruitful, and a positive subject, death, on the other hand, has numerous definitions between each person. Some people consider death to be morbid, horrifying, and a negative thing, whereas others celebrate death and believe that their soul will live forever. Each of the countless observations of life and death are portrayed in diverse types of literature. One contributor and writer of such literature includes Emily Dickinson. In her poems “Because I Could Not Stop for

I believe the structure of this poem is very significant to the interpretation of the

“Afraid! Of whom am I afraid? Not Death – for who is He?” (F345). Dickinson, on the other hand, was not shaken by the thought of death, but rather welcomed it. Dickinson’s poetry not only portrayed death as nothing to fear, but it also counterbalanced society’s disdain for death. In one of Dickinson’s most popular poems, she writes “Because I could not stop for death- he kindly stopped for me” (F479). Culture typically sees death as an unwelcome end that everyone must face, but her poetry depicts death as being kind enough to halt its progress to accommodate her. Why is Emily Dickinson’s poetry so in love with death? Death is the only reliable constant (Ottlinger, 42). “All but Death, Can be adjusted Dynasties repaired – Systems – settled in the Sockets – Citadels – dissolved – Wastes of Lives – resown with Colors By Succeeding Springs – Death – unto itself – Exception – is exempt from Change -” (F789). Perhaps the harshest aspect of her poetry’s death is that after it has taken another soul, life moves on simply

The one poem that really glorifies death is, “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. In the poem it states, “Romeo and Juliet

Mary Oliver writes her poem "When Death Comes" with the imagination of her death in countless ways; a disease, as a bear, an iceberg, and a man with a coin purse. She explains that when her time to die comes she wants to leave this world full of curiosity. Due to such curiosity, she considers everything to be part of a brotherhood and sisterhood, therefore, questions the traditional beliefs of time. She compares each human life to a flower and its commonness but also, its individuality, I would say like people and their similarities but also differences, and regards each life as precious. She tells us that she doesn't want to have regrets or doubts; she doesn't want to be afraid or angry. When she dies she wants to be able to say that she knew the world intimately, and embraced it, like a bride and bridegroom. She wants to have truly lived in this world, not just be a visitor that came and left. Shouldn’t that be the way we all live our lives? I love this poem because the more you read it, the better of an understanding you get. As I read it multiple times over, I really felt her deep and meaningful message. I was also able to identify and find different techniques from her own book "A Poetry Handbook" that she used in order to really express herself and her perspective on life and death. After reading her book, it was much easier to find the use of different techniques within each line of her poem.

Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” Some people welcome death with open arms while others cower in fear when confronted in the arms of death. Through the use of ambiguity, metaphors, personification and paradoxes Emily Dickinson still gives readers a sense of vagueness on how she feels about dying. Emily Dickinson inventively expresses the nature of death in the poems, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)”, “I Heard a fly Buzz—When I Died—(465)“ and “Because I could not stop for Death—(712)”.

Throughout the semester we have discusses a wide range of poets. Some that use different styles, word choice, the way that they want to be read, and more. What seemed to be a repeated theme from a number of poets is death. Death captures the truth, curiosity, and fear of the readers. Looking back through all of the poetry that was chosen to be read through the semester, I have found five different poets that bring death into their writing. Some reflect on death of war, while others focus on death from the cycle of life or the killing of human beings. Either one of these examples of death still bring in the complex thought process about death itself and the feeling that comes along with thinking about death.

The anthology is compiled of my favorite poems, and I purposely selected poems with controversial and subjective meanings. Unlike other forms of literature, such as narrations, in which the meaning and language is more direct, poetry tends to be more personal and open to interpretation. In many cases, even the poet never clearly reveals their poem’s true intent, allowing a myriad of theories to formulate. The subjectiveness of poetry allows the audience to develop various interpretations, which also ensures that more people are identify with them through different ways. For example, the meaning of A Girl by Ezra Pound is still debated, and while it is mostly accepted that the poem is based off the myth of Apollo and Daphne, there are still