Preview

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
373 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
The poem by Emily Dickinson "Because I could not stop for Death" is know to be one of the best poems in English. Every image extends and intensifies each other. But there are some pro and cons in this poem. The poem helps us to characterize and bring death down to a more personal level. It shows a different perspective of death that the more popular views of death being brutal and cruel. Emily Dickinson makes death seem more passive and easy. The theme of this poem being that death is natural and unstoppable for everyday but, at the same time giving comfort that it is not end of the a Soul's journey. She uses different words to symbolize the stages of life such as "School, where children strove" may represent childhood, "fields of gazing grain" as maturity and "setting sun" as old age and then the words "horse heads" leads "towards eternity" represents another stage which is eternity and can only be obtained after death. She makes death seem as a kind and civil gentleman. Even though this poem gives us a very positive overlook of death, a person cannot stop to neglect it and its terror. As seen in the first lines "Because I couldn't stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me", these line show that death is inevitable and one day everyone has to face it. No matter how positively you take it and no matter how much you try to escape death, it will always one day stands in front of you and you wouldn't be able to go anywhere. One day you will have to leave everything behind all the leisure and comforts. As in this poem the terror of death is objectified through the figures of the genteel driver, who is made ironically to serve the end of immortality. Therefore the framework of the poem is in the two abstractions, mortality and eternity, which are made to associate in perfect equality with the images. A construction of the human will is elaborated with all the abstracting powers of the mind. They are put to the concrete lest of experience and the idea of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, was first published in 1862. Dickinson was known for writing poetry mainly about death. When we think about death, we imagine something terrifying, but in this poem it is seen in a different perspective. In the poem, the speaker comes upon death, but not in a scary or bad way. Yet, death has approached her in a gentleman-like way. In this poem it’s talked about as a kind human being, who is simply taking her along a journey around town and death is just a stop away. While reading the poem we believe that the speaker is going to her death bed but once we reach the last stanza of the poem, we are left in quite a surprise.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson, a chief figure in American literature, wrote hundreds of poems in her lifetime using unusual syntax and form. Several if not all her poems revolved around themes of nature, illness, love, and death. Dickinson’s poem, Because I could not stop for Death, a lyric with a jarring volta conflates several themes with an air of ambiguity leaving multiple interpretations open for analysis. Whether death is a lover and immortality their chaperone, a deceiver and seducer of the speaker to lead her to demise, or a timely truth of life, literary devices such as syntax, selection of detail, and diction throughout the poem support and enable these different understandings to stand alone.…

    • 113 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poems, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Is My Team Plowing” by AE Housman have their own perception of the idea of death which they further emphasize with the use of figurative language and style. To begin with, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is a poem about a person, most likely based on the views of Dickinson, who is too into her own world that she does not acknowledge her own death. This poem uses style to emphasize the idea of love. For example, on the second stanza, “We slowly drove…” the structure evokes a feeling of excessive speed. This could infer that the narrator is rushing through her life without realizing death is around the corner.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    However, in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Emily Dickinson creates a safe haven and reminds readers that it is about perception and personal interpretation. When analyzing the poem and only considering the text, there is a dark picture painted. However, when readers begin to use their own inferences, the poem is given a different tone and purpose. The poem enables readers to create their own ideas of death and…

    • 1712 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The first line indicates the theme by using the word "death". In a critical analysis of the poem by Allen Tate, he says that "every image is precise and moreover not merely beautiful, but fused with the central idea" which in the poem is death (Tate, 84). Engle's main point on "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" is that Dickinson uses the poem to refute death in its entirety. She begins by citing the opening line of the poem. Engle interprets this line to mean that Death, as an end point, ceases to be: "It is simply not her nature to stop for Death. She realizes that she cannot recognize Death's power over her. Once she reckons with that eternal or divine bent within her, Death stops; that is, Death ceases to be what Death is- and end," (Engle 74). This brings in the other character in the poem that also takes the carriage ride with, almost posing as a silent chaperone. This character is Immortality. If these two men are separate entities, what is Emily Dickinson asserting about the end of human life? This seems slightly unclear.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickerson's Poetry

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Emily Dickerson's poetry often has similar discussion points. In a few of her poems, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," "I Died For Beauty," and "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died," she discusses death.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death is an odd thing, humans do not know what waits for them the moment their hearts stop beating, they do not know where they’ll end up going- but death is a common topic. Whether it be in movies or writing, death has made its impression on the world; especially on poet Emily Dickinson. Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” focus on a consistent theme of death and her own curiosity on what it might be like to die herself. Dickinson’s life and use of the archetypal device have a connection to helping fuel her dreary, death revolving, poetry.…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson Diction

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There is a multitude of poems written with the theme of death, be it in a positive light or negative. Some poets write poems that depict Death as a spine-chilling inevitable end, others hold respect for this natural occurrence. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, diction and personification is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s cordial friendship with Death.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson wrote “Because I could not stop for Death-” in 1862 but was published in 1890, after her death. This lyrical poem consists of six stanzas of four lines each (6 quatrains). The poem varies between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimester. There is no consistent rhyme scheme. The major theme of the poem is the eternal life after death.…

    • 617 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If we can imagine something similar the the human population it becomes something personal and makes it okay but if the author would have left death something dark and mysterious it wouldn’t be as personal and would be harder to except making the author push death away. The tone in this poem is blissful. The main character is dying but she doesn’t realize completely until the end. She is driving past…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The brilliant uses of imagery, personification, and symbolism in Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death” reveal that death is not the end, but only the beginning of an eternity. Through Dickinson’s use of imagery, she successfully paints the different scenes with descriptive language and metaphors to allow the reader to get a deeper sense of the mood and what the poem is conveying. Using personification as one of the most important tools of literature in the poem, the author creates a unique view on the experience of death, painting it into a more pleasant light. Lastly, though Dickinson’s use of symbolism, she bestows many representations and symbols that help to strongly portray her underlying truth on the subject of death.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because I could not stop for Death, written by Emily Dickinson in 1862, portrays the concept of death in a very non-confrontational manner. The poet's view on death somewhat differs from what we are generally exposed to - associating it with fear and pain. In this poem, the journey of death is conveyed by the voice of a woman who has been dead for centuries. From the bed of her grave, she reflects on how Death, personified as a gentleman, brings her, on a carriage, to her final resting place where her soul still remains. Irony is used here because the speaker is not sure whether or not Death has tricked her into going from a busy life, to a peaceful death.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me,” (lines 1-2) Dickinson. Emily Dickinson writes in a tone that does not represent the usual gloom and doom death, but the death that is represented is a kind and companionate one. Throughout the entire poem, Dickinson shows that death is not to be feared and people should enjoy it before it ends for them.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dickinson poems give the society a new attitude and vision towards death by adapting a fresh implication of death. Dickinson gives the audience a new realm to create their own elucidations about death depending on their respective societies and religion. Although not appreciated throughout her lifetime, her poem continues to impress and influence society after her…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson is unquestionably one of the most significant, innovative, and renowned American poets. She did not always receive such high praise, however, as most of her fame and honor was obtained long after she died. While she was alive, she lived most of her life isolated from society as a recluse. During this reclusion, however, she wrote almost eighteen hundred poems, and one of these included “Because I could not stop for Death” (Mays 1187). This is one of her most popular poems and that is in part because it allows the audience to analyze the topic of death and the struggle to come to grip with one’s own demise. The concept of Death is humanized within this poem. “He” is portrayed as a groom and a conductor, as much as he is a robber…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays