The speaker in this poem is overwhelmed by all the tasks, she does, which use up all her time; as a result, the speaker wants to relax and have fun in her life. However; it is not possible so the speaker finds death as her last resort. So when Death finally comes; she gladly enters his “carriage“ as she was weary of her daily life. When they arrive at her final resting place, the burial ground, she realizes it has been centuries since her death and the horses have been walking to eternity. This tells the reader Emily Dickinson believes in afterlife, and is probably looking forward to it.
While the poem starts with Death picking her up in his carriage, the final resting ground is not the grave site. It is said “We paused before a House that seemed / A swelling of the Ground” (17-18) which tells us they stop at the grave for the narrator’s death but they only pause there inferring it is not the last place they will visit on their journey. In the final stanza of the poem she says “Since then –‘tis Centuries –and yet / Feels shorter than the Day / I first surmised the Horses’ Heads / Were toward Eternity –” (21-24). This can be interpreted as an image that shows the horses who are guiding the Narrator and Death on their carriage ride, have their heads pointing straight towards eternity, which proves that once she is buried it is not the end as she is existing in some form of an afterlife. She also says, although it was centuries ago, it “Feels shorter than the Day” (22), proving that time plays no role in eternity and that her burial feels shorter than it actually was, once again supporting the idea of her existence in an afterlife. Once reading the final stanza and seeing her existence in eternity, the quote “The Carriage held but just Ourselves –/ And Immortality” (3-4) from the first stanza begins to make more sense for the readers. If you are in a carriage with death, you are thought to be on your final ride and so the only way to
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.
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.
“Saying nothing... sometimes says the most” is very true in a lot of cases, including writing. Emily Dickinson wrote a poem to display the insanity while Poe wrote a long story. Emily Dickinson’s poem called, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain” showed off insanity from a whole new perspective. The poem is about a person having very out of the ordinary thoughts about her own funeral. Edgar Allan Poe’s display of insanity was in a story titled, “The Tell-Tale Heart” which had a man who committed murder and was dealing with the after effects of the crime. Emily Dickinson displays insanity more effectively because not only does she cover her characters in craziness and make describe insanity beautifully she matches Poe’s best ability with her skills.
In the beginning of the poem, the speaker seems to not mind death’s coming for her as she talks about how nice death is: “He kindly stopped for me— . . . For His Civility—” (2, 8). The speaker also states she is picked up by death in a carriage which seems somewhat luxurious: “The Carriage held but just Ourselves—/ Add Immortality—” (3, 4). The speaker in the prior quote states she was with “Immortality” in the carriage, which leads to the understanding she will never die in the state she is currently in. The speaker initially seems to be at peace as she rides in the carriage as she says, “And I had put away / My labor and my leisure too,” (6, 7). However, at the end of the prior quote, the speaker states she also put away her leisure too, which is the first sign of negativity in the poem. This boredom escalates further as she watches children at recess play, fields of grazing grass, and the sunset. As time went on she began to become to grow cold, which may have been symbolism for how she felt: “The Dews drew quivering and chill— / For only Gossamer, my Gown— (14-15). Next, she presumably speaks of the carriage stopping at her grave: “We paused before a House that seemed / A Swelling of the Ground— / The Roof was scarcely visible—” (20-22). However, the carriage only stopped briefly as it began to move again towards eternity: “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads / Were toward Eternity—” (27, 28). It is at this point the speaker truly grasps the concept of eternity and how she will be stuck in this carriage alone forever. This poem points out that maybe eternal consciousness is not as pleasurable as it may seem, and living people cannot truly grasp how long eternity is. This ending is why I believe this poem should be considered that of eternal misery, although it began with a positive
Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” Some people welcome death with open arms while others cower in fear when confronted in the arms of death. Through the use of ambiguity, metaphors, personification and paradoxes Emily Dickinson still gives readers a sense of vagueness on how she feels about dying. Emily Dickinson inventively expresses the nature of death in the poems, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)”, “I Heard a fly Buzz—When I Died—(465)“ and “Because I could not stop for Death—(712)”.
“Death, the end of life: the time when someone or something dies” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). The definition of death is quite simple, the end of life is inescapable. I chose to write about death and impermanence because it is something we all must inevitably face. People often deal with death in a number of different ways. Although it is something that we must eventually face, it can be hard to come to terms with because the idea can be hard to grasp. Some of us fear it, others are able to accept it, either way we all must eventually face it. In this essay I will look at two different literary works about death and impermanence and compare and contrast the different elements of the point of view, theme, setting, and symbolism. The comparison of these particular works will offer a deeper look into words written by the authors and the feelings that they experiencing at that particular time.
Emily Dickinson's Obsession with Death. Emily Dickinson became legendary for her preoccupation with death. All her poems contain stanzas focusing on loss or loneliness, but the most striking ones talk particularly about death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her fascination with the morose gives her poems a rare quality, and gives us insight into a mind we know very little about. What we do know is that Dickinson’s father left her a small amount of money when she was young.
In the poem "Because I could not stop for death", Emily Dickinson writes about death as if she had already been dead for centuries. She humanizes death and uses him to chauffeur her in a horse-drawn carriage, straight to her grave. The sights she describes on the way to her grave are aspects of her life and what she is leaving behind. Dickinson uses personification, a peaceful tone, a theme of both mortality and immortality, and symbolism throughout her poem in order to attract the attention of the reader and to convey a message that death is not something to fear and that she believes in the afterlife.
In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, she is comfortable and happy with her death because she knows that there is immortality, “I first surmised the horses’ heads/ Were toward eternity” (Jacks ll. 23-24). The horses signify her journey to the afterlife. Similarly to Emily Dickinson, Terry Jacks speaks about the afterlife, “Little children everywhere/ When you see them, I’ll be there” (Jacks ll.23-24). He is saying to help his love ones cope with his death, telling them that he will always be there. He tells them that his spirit is everywhere and when they think of him, he will be there. Emily Dickinson and Terry Jacks both share the view of
"I first surmised the horses' heads were toward eternity."(Dickinson) In this poem a girl goes on a carriage ride with death and immortality. This carriage ride is very slow and the girl has to gives up a lot for death, almost like he is her family. When she is on this carriage ride she passes many sites that she was too busy to see before. Then death and her stop at a house which looks similar to a grave. Then she dies into eternity. This poem begins with a carriage ride, through many scenes, and ends at the house which becomes her barrel ground. In "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson, the main character is affected by the setting because she has to give up so much for this carriage ride, but then she gets an abundant amount out of it when she sees the many sites, and then in the end when she realizes her journey is over, she is sad to leave the world, but happy that she is going to eternity.
Emily Dickinson was known to be one of the best poets in the 19th century as she displayed a unique writing style discussing her experiences and beliefs. Throughout her life, she wrote over one thousand poems with many recurring themes, all tied to religion, nature, and death. Even though the theme of the afterlife is not one of her major topic she wrote about, Dickinson somehow found a way to express her interest in eternity. Poems 160 and 271 show Dickinson portraying a narrator’s desire to live in the afterlife for eternity while questioning if true happiness can be found in that world.
Dickinson writes, “He kindly stopped me” (2). This quote demonstrates that by Death kindly stopping for the woman, the tone of the poem is not one of tragedy but acceptance towards the concept of death. Another major component that is personified is immortality: “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality” (3-4). In this quote, immortality is also given attributions of a person, which emphasizes the significance of immortality, and this is done because immortality is also given the attribution of a traveler. Literary devices like personification and imagery work together to deliver the meaning of the poem.
When Dickinson starts this poem, she lets you know what is going on right away. With the first line being, “Because I could not stop for Death-“ (line 1) it gives you the general summary that this poem is going to be about death. Next, she sates “He kindly stopped for me” (line 2) and to me this made me imagine that it was like they were on a date. It’s easy to relate this poem to someone going out on some sort of date. In the next couple of lines she writes “The Carriage held but Ourselves- And Immorality” (line 3, 4) and these lines made me start to think that she is okay with the idea of death. She isn’t really freaking out about it she is just riding along with death. In lines 6 and 7 she is saying that she has given up everything to be on this date with death, kind of like you do when you start dating someone. For the next stanza she is describing they scenery that they are passing through and it set the tone to be relaxing and kind of beautiful. I enjoyed reading these lines because they really do help to set an image in your head so that you can be picturing everything that is going on in this date with death. Dickinson next writes “The Dews drew quivering and Chill- For only Gossamer, my Gown -”(line 14, 15) which is implying that the person in this story wasn’t properly prepared for this date because she is getting cold in the outfit that she is wearing. Stanza 5 lets us know that she is going to die. A house has been made up in the ground, like a hole you dig for a casket. In the final couple lines of the poem Dickinson states “Since then- ‘tis Centuries- and yet Feels shorter than the Day” (line 21, 22) and after reading those two lines you realize that this memory was from a long time ago but it seems like it just happened yesterday. This lines also relate back to it being like it was just any other date that someone would have had, it might have been one of the best or worst date,
Emily Dickinson’s ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ addresses one of the most mysterious aspects of life - death, and what comes after it. She describes and personifies the character of Death, and explores the concept and possibility of immortality and she journeys in a carriage towards her own impending death. As the poem continues, her understand and maturity towards death deepens as she gets closer to Death. Dickinson lead a secluded life overshadowed by the frequent deaths of her relatives, which was reflected in her poetry. The poem’s tone is calm and accepting of death - she does not try to delay or avoid death. The poem is written in Emily Dickinson’s signature fragmented style, full of enjambment and caesura cleverly placed to create tension and emphasis for effect. The poem’s unpredictable structure and rhythm makes each stanza unique and gives the poem an overall uneven beat, mirroring the horses that pull her carriage. The first stanza is written in common meter, a structure commonly used in hymns, hinting at Dickinson’s religious background. ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ challenges our view and ideas of death as Dickinson recounts to the reader her journey through life to whatever lies beyond.