Death is something inevitable and everyone views and deals with death differently. Some of them are scared and some see it naturally. In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death”, it reveals the poet’s calm acceptance of death. Dickinson even personifies death as a gentleman caller who takes a leisurely carriage ride with her to her grave. However, “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died” also by Emily Dickinson gives a different view of death. It points to a disbelief in heaven or any form of the afterlife. In the other hand, John Donne’s “Death be not proud”, also personifies death and Donne creates an image of death that is not mysterious and is not as powerful as we think. Even though these three poems revolve the same central theme—death, they all have slightly …show more content…
In “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, death is kind and appealing that it brings her to eternity. In line 3-4, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality.” Dickinson describes death as a person and she travels with him to eternity, where immortality is the passenger. It shows that Dickinson does not think that death is the end of one’s journey and instead, she thinks that it is a journey towards a new beginning. Also, in the second stanza, “We slowly drove – He knew no haste/And I had put away/My labor and my leisure too” Dickinson kind of implies that death is enjoyable as she feels that it is no rush to go wherever they are going and also she gives up work and free time to go with him. So she wants to take her time to enjoy the journey. In her journey, she is thinking back on her life and experiences. For example,
There is probably no one, among people, who has not considered death as a subject to think about or the events, people, and spirits that they would face after death. Also, since we were little kids, we were asking our parents what death is and what is going to happen after we die. People have always linked death with fear, darkness, depression, and other negative feelings, but not with Emily Dickinson, a reclusive poet from Massachusetts who was obsessed with death and dying in her tons of writings. She writes “Because I could not stop for Death” and in this particular poem she delivers a really different idea of death and the life after death. In the purpose of doing that, the speaker encounters death, which was personalized to be in the form of a gentleman suitor who comes to pick her up with his horse-drawn carriage for a unique death date that will last forever.
...h picks up the speaker in a horse drawn carriage “And Immortality” (4) joins them. The poet is implying that with death comes immorality, just not of the sort that one reads about in Twilight novels. Indeed, Dickinson is not referring to temporal perpetuity, but a spiritual eternity. Besides that, earthly pleasures and acts appear to have lost their appeals for the speaker. When she tells of how they “passed the school, where children strove / At recess, in the ring”, notice how the word strove is used in place of the word play, indicating that life is a struggle. Death “kindly stopped for [her]” (2), and she though him very civil for doing so. The last intriguing aspect to this poem is the way Dickinson wrote it so that it included no allusions to anything specifically religious, any reader, no matter their beliefs, could in someway relate to the theme of the poem.
Death is a controversial and sensitive subject. When discussing death, several questions come to mind about what happens in our afterlife, such as: where do you go and what do you see? Emily Dickinson is a poet who explores her curiosity of death and the afterlife through her creative writing ability. She displays different views on death by writing two contrasting poems: one of a softer side and another of a more ridged and scary side. When looking at dissimilar observations of death it can be seen how private and special it is; it is also understood that death is inevitable so coping with it can be taken in different ways. Emily Dickinson’s poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” show both parallel and opposing views on death.
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” Dickinson influences the reader that death is a courteous gentleman instead of a terrifying figure and that sooner or later the gentleman will come to take one’s life. Many people aren’t willing to stop for death, but are taken away. In the poem, the poet puts away concerns of work and leisure. This is a reminder that death is the end of life and energy. The poet rides in a carriage with Death and immortality. During the journey, pleasant scenes of the poet’s past are passed. Once the carriage passed the setting sun suggests the inevitable end of mortal time. Beyond the sun, the dark earth and dew send chills. This is the final transformation of life to death. The carriage becomes a hearse, and the poet is taken to her grave t...
In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she uses the structure of her poem and rhetoric as concrete representation of her abstract beliefs about death to comfort and encourage readers into accepting Death when He comes. The underlying theme that can be extracted from this poem is that death is just a new beginning. Dickinson deftly reassures her readers of this with innovative organization and management, life-like rhyme and rhythm, subtle but meaningful use of symbolism, and ironic metaphors.
The poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson dramatizes the speaker’s experience with death by using the personification of death as a way for the reader to visualize her experience. Presented as a gentleman or potential suitor, death comes to pick the speaker up in a carriage. The surprise visit from him “tells the readers that no one can anticipate death” (Lin 2017), which is one of the main ideas of the poem. Death is described as being “kindly” and having “civility”, the speaker emphasizes how death is not as scary as he is often depicted (2, 8). They are joined in the carriage by immortality, which is also personified, and together they take a trip through the town. They pass by children in the school playground, fields of grain, and the setting of the sun. Their trip ends at a house, described as “A Swelling of the Ground”, which symbolizes the speaker’s grave (18). The speaker comments that the passing of time since death seems to be “shorter than the day” when in actuality it had been “centuries” (22, 21). This poem asserts that
One primary element of death is the experience of dying. Many of of us are scared of the thought of death. When we stop and think about what death will be like, we wonder what it will feel like, will it be painful, will it be scary? In Emily Dickinson's poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, she focuses on what the journey into her afterlife will be like. Dickinson uses the first person narrative to tell her encounter with death. The form that she uses throughout the poem helps to convey her message. The poem is written in five quatrains. Each stanza written in a quatrain is written so that the poem is easy to read. The first two lines of the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me;” (Clugston 2010), gives you a clear view of what the poems central theme is. Unlike most poems that are about death, Dickinson's attitu...
Doone personifies death in his poem to create imagery of inferiority in order to represent death as a weak character. The personification of death can be found in the first line as Doone states "death be not proud". In this statement the composer personifies death through characterising death, an intangible subject, with human characteristics of pride. Through establishing the personification of death in the beginning of the poem, Doone creates a direct dialogue between the reader and death. Hence the reader is able to visualise themselves looking down at death as an individual enabling death to be depicted as inferior/ weak. Doone integrates connotations throughout his poem to describe death in a condescending manner allowing death to be presented as weak. In lines "rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be" Doone's deliberate use of positive connotation enabled the composer to diminish the power of death. The words rest, and sleep connotes with peace and tranquillity, hence as Doone describes death as rest and sleep he ridiculed the fearful nature of death and is claiming that death should not be feared as it is as weak as sleeping. Therefore, John Doone's ironic style characterised by his use of imagery and connotation, demeaned the fearful nature of death portraying death to be weak and
Emily Dickinson is one of the numerous poets who uses death as the subject of several of her poems. In her poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," Death is portrayed as a gentleman who comes to give the speaker. a ride to eternity. Throughout the poem, Dickinson develops her unusual. interpretation of death and, by doing so, composes a poem full of imagery that is both unique and thought provoking.
This allowed her to spend her time writing and lamenting, instead of seeking out a husband or a profession. Eventually, she limited her outside activities to going to church. In her early twenties, she began to pray and worship on her own. This final step to total seclusion clearly fueled her obsession with death, and with investigating the idea of an afterlife. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson rides in a carriage with the personification of Death, showing the constant presence of death in her life.
In the poem "Because I could not stop for death", Emily Dickinson talks about her acceptance of death as something inevitable that comes to her and she has no control over it; although she seems confused about being alive or dead as she keeps narrating.
In the beginning of the poem, Dickinson writes, "Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me." Not only does Dickinson portray death as a man, but she does so in a way that the man is not perceived in a negative way. She writes as if the man is her lover, kindly stopping in a way as if he was to suit her. Death is not our enemy, but instead is our companion. In the next two lines, in lines three and four, Dickinson then uses a metaphor to compare a carriage to death.... ...
In poetry, death is referred as the end of literature and it is associated with feeling of sorrows. However Emily Dickinson demonstrates that death is not the end of literature or feeling of sadness but death is a new element of inspiration in poetry and is the beginning of a new chapter in our life. In the poem ‘’Because I Could Not Stop for Death’, she discusses the encounter of a women with death, who passed away centuries ago. Dickenson uses metaphors and similes to show that the process of dying can be an enjoyable moment by appreciating the good moments in life, and by respecting death rather than fearing it. Also Dickinson portrays death in a humorous way as she compares it to man seducing her to go to her death as well, to childhood games that show the innocence of this encounter (Bloom). The poem is a reflection of how unpredictable death can be. Death is a scary process in life that should not be feared because it should be celebrate as new start.
Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” is a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown. In Dickinson’s poem, “Because I could not stop Death,” there is much impression in the tone, in symbols and in the use of imagery that over flow with creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone and use of symbolism in Dickinson’s poem.
Throughout Emily Dickinson’s poetry there is a reoccurring theme of death and immortality. The theme of death is further separated into two major categories including the curiosity Dickinson held of the process of dying and the feelings accompanied with it and the reaction to the death of a loved one. Two of Dickinson’s many poems that contain a theme of death include: “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “After great pain, a formal feeling comes.”