Unprepared For Death

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Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death” is about a person who rides a carriage with Death. Along the ride, the speaker is taken passed a school, fields, and the setting sun. This signifies going through life, each representing a different part of life. Death is the final destination in this poem and the afterlife is alluded to. Though the use of symbolism and imagery of the evolution of life, the personification of death, and symbolism of the carriage, Dickinson shows that although death will come when you are not prepared, you should welcome it because it is eternal. Dickinson first shows the reader that the speaker is not prepared for death in order to reveal that death can come when we do not expect it and when we are not prepared. She begins her poem with “Because I did not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me” (lines 1-2). This shows that the speaker does not decide when she will die, but death will decide. The speaker cannot expect when Death will arrive, so she will not be prepared. The speaker is further described as being unprepared for death when Dickinson describes the arrival of death. The author writes “The Dews drew …show more content…

She accomplishes this by first showing how death comes when we are not prepared through the use of symbolism and imagery of the speaker being unprepared. Then, she personifies death in order to reveal its positive characteristics and to show that death should be welcomed. Finally, Dickinson uses the symbol of the carriage and the journey to illustrate to her readers that death and the afterlife is everlasting and it should be accepted as such in order for one be most

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