Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Does the notion of death frighten you, or is it an idea to embrace? For Emily Dickinson the notion of death is a deep philosophical notion in which there is a strong relationship, perhaps even a friendship between Emily and Death. In the poem “Because I could Not Stop for Death” Emily Dickinson uses mood, theme, and personification to convey her viewpoint on the metaphorical relationship she has with death and what death truly means. Emily and Death personified give the reader a new approach to the concept of death.
The mood throughout the poem is calmness. In the first verse Dickinson claims, “Because I could not stop for death / he kindly stopped for me” (1-2). most of the time whenever someone writes about death they make justification for how it is swift, has no bias, and comes quietly. In this poem one can see the opposite, and in fact one can see a calm pace with Emily and Death. Dickinson continues in the next

Again, in the first verse of the poem the reader recognizes death personified when Dickinson states “He kindly stopped for me” (2). When looking through society we often see death as a representation of the grim reaper or some other form of a dark entity. Dickinson completely revolutionizes the idea of death by personifying it as some sort of gentleman taking the victim on a journey through another form of existence. Another important form of personification that was used was in regard to the sun, the writer stated, “We passed the setting sun / or rather he passed us” (12-13). As stated before the sun could be symbolism to the life force of the grain, and now it could even represent a deity or divinity of some sort because it has been personified. Throughout history people have referred to the sun as the giver of life or a form of a god, so this is entirely