Symbolism of Death Used in Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson and “Home Burial by Robert Frost

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.

One of the prevalent themes of Emily’s work is death. Since she wrote about her inner world and troubles, death as a theme could not be avoided. Emily Dickinson had to face the losing friends to death. Several deaths of family members, including her mother, father and a nephew helped contribute to the theme in her poetry. These events affected her health but she found a way to cope with the idea of death with her poetry. She developed an attitude towards death, seeing it as a transition from mortality to immortality. She accepted its inevitability and tried to make peace with the idea itself. This kind of comprehension was something Emily needed in order to cope with the loss of her loved ones who had been her only support and company in her isolated lifestyle. The theme of death is shown in the poem I picked for the research paper. In the poem called “How Far Is It To Heaven”, by Emily Dickinson it again deals with death but heaven and hell is included. This poem has only a few lines but it gets straight to the point and the theme of the poem hits you right in the face. One example is clear from the first two lines where it asks “How Far Is It To Heaven?” (Line 1) and “As far as Death this way” (Line 2). The poem is so simple but portrays a powerful message to the reader. Another huge theme of

Two literary pieces, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by, Dylan Thomas and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by, Emily Dickinson are both poems that discuss the topic of death. While there are some similarities and comparisons between the two poems, when it comes to the themes, both poets writing styles are quite different from one another which makes each poem unique. Thomas and Dickinson both use identical figurative language devices and other literature symbolisms as they explain their main themes which contrasts the differences to the concept of death. These distinct variations between poems are apparent in both the form, and how the choice of words is used in the poems. Both of the authors have presented two very different ideas on death. The poems are well distinguished literature devices, they share minor similarities and differences between each other and how they present the meaning of death to a toll.

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson’s poetry is very different; however death seems to be a familiar topic amongst both poets. Opposites attract, and you could say the same for Whitman and Dickinson because though they have different writing styles both repeatedly write about death. Once more, although both Whitman and Dickinson have many different feelings about death, they also share many similar feelings about it as well. Although Walt Whitman's poetry is rather long and quite simple and Emily Dickinson's are often short and complex, the theme of death strongly ties their works together.

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.

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.

Tone is an incredibly powerful tool used to influence someone's personal emotions and interpretation of a piece. This being said, when personifying death, different tones can inflict different feelings and perspectives of death in each piece. This is exemplified in the different mediums of Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not Stop for Death” and Carlos Schwabe's artwork, The Death of the Gravedigger. Both of these pieces of art convey mostly different uses of tone, while some similarities are present.

     With poems often being short in length, symbolism helps the author expand on a theme by using very little words. In ?Because i could not stop for Death,? Dickinson uses symbolism to give more substance to the journey with ?Death?. Dickinson symbolizes the ride in general as being a ride past her life to eternity. The setting sun is also a symbol for her dying life. As the sun sets and ends another day, her life ends as ?Death? takes her toward eternity. Thomas H. Johnson interprets this by saying ?the sun passed them, as it of course does all who are in the grave? (Johnson). In both cases, Dickinson symbolizes the ?sun? as a way of ending things, connecting it to the character's ending life. Dickinson also uses the third stanza as a symbol of how everything will go on normally while the character is being lead to the afterlife. The children and grain are growing which represents new life or the future (Melani). This symbol shows that ?Death? does not control everything, but can control on thing at a time. Symbolism is a key to many poems, to help the reader think deeper into the poem itself.

Slide 3: The theme of these two poems is Loss of love. These two poems elaborate on the feelings and actions towards losing a loved one, both the authors have different perspectives and different ideas about how it makes them feel and throughout the poems they express these feelings.

There are a lot of similar themes between the poems 'The Wanderer', 'The Seafarer' and 'The Wife's Lament'. One of the easiest themes I can point out is the use of the fact that they all wander, they're wandering through their lives not knowing exactly where to go, what to do or how to do it. They all feel lonely, sadness and grief. The hardships they all go through are different but still similar in ways. The way they deal with them are also different yet similar, The Wife searches for her husband and busies herself with thoughts of their lost love and old memories to distract and maybe even deal with the fact that she does not know what she is doing or where she is going, all she knows is that she loves her husband and longs for the love

Poems are like snowflakes. While no two are the same, they all have common structures and themes. One prevalent theme in poetry is that of death, which is present in both “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Dickinson perceives death as a gentleman, while Frost perceives death as loneliness, which provides insight on how the time periods of the poems, the genders of the authors, and the authors’ personal experiences influence literature.

There are many different ways to describe death and the emotional feelings that come with death. Poems are one of the best ways to convey the process of death, the feelings that come with death, and impact of death. Emily Dickinson describes her own death in the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” and the general idea that life is mortal. However, the poem provides Dickinson immorality through the power of her words. This poem describes death in a positive way by putting death in the form of man who has the persona of the gentlemen. Emily is actually a ghost and describes her death spirituality; therefore, she examines what real death might be like.

Theme is considered the most important element in a poem. In the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night? the theme undoubtedly revolves around death but approaches towards the refusal of death, encouraging readers to "rage? against the absurdity of death. Conversely, the theme of the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death?pertains to accepting death peacefully. In the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death? the speaker of the poem accepts death calmly as "He kindly stopped [es] for me [the

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)”.