Symbolism In Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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Emily Dickinson is known as one of the most brilliant poets of all time. She, along with other great poets of her time, challenged the existing definitions of poetry by experimenting with expression in order to free it from its conventional constraints (“Emily Dickinson”). Numberless people would call Ms. Dickinson a unique genius as she could achieve a great deal in a sheer eight lines while giving them no title (Haralson). Emily Dickinson uses a copious amount of literary devices to amplify the overall feel of her poems. In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson specifically uses examples of imagery, personification, and symbolism to show the poem’s overall theme, the inevitability of death. Many people have a hard time …show more content…

Gossamer is a type of fabric—a thinner version of chiffon. In the 1800s, wedding gowns were typically overlaid with gossamer, providing the women with a sophisticated look. Many women of the 1800s used both gossamer and tulle on their wedding gowns, confirming the symbolism of a wedding. Tippets were usually worn by clergymen during their service. Clergymen are mainly associated with Catholicism. Catholicism is one of the strictest religions when it comes to the antics of marriage. When a Catholic man and a Catholic woman decide to get married, they must go through rigorous counseling sessions with their clergymen to make sure they are able to fulfill their wedding vows to one another. The last vow two people share before they become one is “until death do we part.” This line means that the two newlyweds will be together forever; divorce is not an option. Emily Dickinson pulls in the most common aspects of a wedding day to allow the reader the peaceful thought of their wedding day while also experiencing their death. For a woman to experience the beauty of her wedding day with the love of her life, she must accept that one day, her fairytale must end. A man must realize that to be wed with his young, vibrant bride, a day will come when she is old and sick. In order for one of the partners to live a pleasurable life with the other, they must accept the inevitability of aging—of death. People find comfort in the safety of “until death do we part.” Being with someone until the end provides people with solace, allowing them to not live with the fear of death because they can share their concerns with one another. Fear is temporary, death is

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    In the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Emily Dickinson portrays death as a polite gentleman who ushers people into the afterlife. The poem’s opening lines reveal death to be the driver of a carriage who stopped for the narrator of the poem. The narrator and death travel alone passing by several scenes of everyday life ending the journey when the carriage stops at a home. The imagery and symbols within this poem paint a picture of a calm activity that is ordinary and expected, starting with the deliberate slow pace and intimacy of the poem.

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