Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe on the subject of death

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Recommended: Poetic theory and technique in Emily Dickinson poems

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Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” deals with the personification of death as an extremely gentle figure, who is escorting the speaker to her deathbed from the carriage. The speaker in this poem is dead for centuries and she is explaining the reader the experience she went through before dying. The main theme evident in this poem shows the inevitability of death and the idea of accepting of death. In the beginning of the poem itself, in line 2, Dickinson establishes a compassionate tone to depict the speaker’s amiable relationship with death when the speaker states “He kindly stopped for us”. The tone highlights the speaker’s acceptance of death and demonstrates how comfortable the speaker is feeling in the presence of death. This idea is further stressed in line three, “The Carriage held but Ourselves,” where Dickinson uses language to portray the speaker’s strong connection with death. The use of diction to stress on the capitalized word “Ourselves” signifies the friendly and exclusive bond between the speaker and death reiterating the theme. The Lines 6-8, “And I had to put away, My labor and my leisure too, For his Civility,” reemphasizes the speaker’s perspective on death. The speaker “has to” sacrifice all of his/her “leisure” and “labor” which symbolizes life in itself to prepare for death. Additionally, rather than discredit ‘Death’ for taking the speaker’s life, the speaker notes Death’s “Civility,” further suggesting that the speaker does not resent death. Imagery is also used to great detail in this poem in order to depict the speaker’s journey towards her death. In the 4th stanza, for example, there is specific evidence of visual imagery as seen from line 14, “The Dews drew quivering ...

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...eath. Even though, the speaker’s view of death remains the same indicated in these selected poem, death is presented differently in each of her poems. In the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” death was personified as a “gentleman.” On the other hand, in Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” death is envisioned as a fly, whereas in “Behind Me-dips Eternity” death is regarded as both “Maelstorm” and “Dawn” or in other words, death is regarded in terms of nature.
You need a summary paragraph where you attempt to tie all these ideas together. What can we say about D’s poetry and her various portrayals of death? Is there a common thread? Does she contradict herself? Can we come away from the poetry confident that there is a consistent set of ideas or at least observations there? Your summary paragraph should try to address some of these questions.

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