The MY Wheel Is In The Dark, By Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was an American poet born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. It was only upon her death on May 15, 1886 that her family discovered thousands of her poems. One of her most prolific piece of work is “Because I could not stop for death” published in 1860 the poem uses personification, symbols and metaphors to highlight her concern and point of view on death as well as life. In the poem, Dickinson speaks about death in a blithe way setting the overall tone in a calm manner. The poem uses imagery and her ironic tone to give the message that death should not be feared, but instead one should make the best out of life.

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.

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.

Emily Dickinson, born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, is regarded as one of America’s best poets. After a poor experience at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where she was regarded as a “no hope,” her writing career took off in full swing. Although her family was more conservative, regular churchgoers, and socially prominent town figures, Dickinson preferred a socially reserved lifestyle that renounced the traditional values of her day (Baym, 1189-93). The iconoclastic spirit pervasive in Emily Dickinson's poetry reflects her conflict with the traditions of New England society.

Death is an aspect of life that everyone becomes acquainted with sooner or later. The poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” by Emily Dickinson, is seen as a reflection of the passing of time in one 's life while living. No one knows when it is their time to die, and we live everyday as if tomorrow it promised. Dickinson is saying that since we as humans tend to live on the expectation for tomorrow, we don 't think about the end of our life or when it will be. That time will stand still when, and only when, life draws to a close, yet it will no longer matter.

"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

Dickinson’s use of figurative language in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” contributes to the meaning of the poem. With the use of personification, symbolism, and examples of vivid imagery, she composes a poem which is both unique and captivating. The title and first line of the poem, “Because I Could

“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson has written in 1863. Emily Dickinson was born in 1830-86, she is one of the greatest poets in American literature. Dickinson wrote love poems which it indicates strong attachment because of this it 's difficult to know if does poems where subjects of her feelings or just part of her poetic imagination. The different tension that comes from her work is due to the cause of not accepting orthodox religion, “the flood subject”- immortality, and her rebellious (Emily Dickinson). We can see that this poem is one of many that were later discovered because the title and the first line of the poem are the same. Death came to take the speaker into his carriage and drive around in it. By the first passing to a school where children play. Then passing grain field and looking at the sun. The last stop is an old “house” getting eaten by the surrounding vegetation. Lastly, she comes to realize that centuries have passed, but only feeling like days, and moving to eternity (Dickinson). The meaning of “Because I Could not stop for Death” is that journey to death and its feelings. The separation of the stanza, it shows the different steps in how death feels and word choices.

Emily Dickinson's most famous work, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" is generally considered to be one of the great masterpieces of American poetry (GALE). Dickinson experienced an emotional crisis of an undetermined nature in the early 1860's. Her traumatized state of mind is believed to have inspired her writing. In this particular poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” the deceased narrator of the poem reminisces about that material day when Death came seeking for her. In stanza one of the poem, the speaker states that she had always been too occupied to give room to death, so in good manner, he stopped for her. She further remarks that, in his carriage, she was accompanied by Immortality alongside Death. "The Carriage held

The American Civil War was one of the most violent eras of American history. It was during this period that the poems written by Emily Dickinson carry the most meaning. Jay Parini said, “poetry gives voice to what is not usually said”, It feels a shame to be alive, by Emily Dickinson is about death and it questions the bravery of the living. Despite death being a part of day-to-day life during a time of war, death was an unknown state of being and for this reason it scared people and the topic was avoided, as it still is today. This poem questions the bravery of those who live “When

“The idea of death as a suitor is a powerful one, … In "Death is the supple suitor," Dickinson returns to the ideas of the earlier "Because I could not stop for Death” (Priddy). “The drive in "Because I could not stop for Death" symbolizes the movement through life and into death. In stanza three, the carriage passes from childhood, past the "Gazing Grain," which in its ripeness might be seen as representative of maturity, and finally past the "Setting Sun," symbolic of endings” (Priddy). All these images that the author set up throughout poem is just all leading to the end where Dickinson reveals the fact that all life comes to an end and how each image gives a more saddened feel to the poems. “Despite her seclusion, she was in correspondence with many of the prominent intellectuals of her time, including Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, and Higginson, editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Many of her poems were included in letters or were mailed as messages. She wrote, particularly, in times of illness, death, or other hardship” (Priddy). She always had a spot in each of her poems whether it be to family friends or others it had the introduction of the saddening qualities that prevailed during this time of

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

In the poem, Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, she writes, “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves and Immortality.” (Stanza 1). This conveys how Emily had come upon her time of death, and the Grim Reaper arrived to take her away on a carriage to death. This is important to note because it’s figurative meaning determines that Dickinson made the grim reaper seem more of a companion or real concept that takes her to her new destination, instead of a scary, and vile figure that snatches her life away, because she feels accepting of her death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson states, “We paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound.”

In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death “ (448), the speaker of the poem is a woman who relates about a situation after her death. The speaker personifies death as a polite and considerate gentleman who takes her in a carriage for a romantic journey; however, at the end of this poem, she finishes her expedition realizing that she has died many years ago.

Emily Dickinson a modern romantic writer, whose poems considered imaginative and natural, but also dark as she uses death as the main theme many times in her writings. She made the death look natural and painless since she wanted the reader to look for what after death and not be stuck in that single moment. In her poems imagination play a big role as it sets the ground for everything to unfold in a magical way. The speakers in Dickinson’s poetry, are sharp-sighted observers who see the inescapable limitations of their societies as well as their imagined and imaginable escapes. To make the abstract tangible, to define meaning without confining it, to inhabit a house that never became a prison, Dickinson created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized. She turned increasingly to this style that came to define her writing. The poems are rich in aphorism and dense