Because I Could Not Stop For Death Essay

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Poetry, a literary art form, definitely can evoke a multitude emotions through it's expansive

amount of messages. The poem “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, serves as a

great example. Death evokes sadness, however, it can also point to happiness. John 11:25-26 says,

“Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall

he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” To display why the poem

exemplifies itself as a great poem, theme, content, and literary devices of the poem shall get displayed.

The theme of “Because I could not stop for Death”, like many other poems takes some

deciphering to figure out. After deciphering it, one sees …show more content…

To prove the theme, lack of fear

for death, the person in the poem does not show fear towards death. The person simply rides along in

the carriage and accepts her fate. Overall, the theme successfully makes death seem less intimidating.

Emily Dickinson injects intriguing content into her poem. First, she utilizes a different form of

rhyming patterns in her poems. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, she uses an ABCB rhyming

pattern. Second, she describes death as a gentleman. Although most people would describe death as a

thief, Emily Dickinson does not. Death acting as a gentleman also helps the theme of lack of fear for

death. When a writer does something out of the ordinary, it makes readers think. Ms. Dickinson

definitely achieved that quite well by the content she put into the poem.

Literary devices are vital tools to making all writings amazing. Literary devices make people

think more about the writing. “Because I could not stop for death” uses some impressive literary

devices. “We slowly drove”(5), a great example of a hysteron. Next she utilized personification, “We

passed the Fields of Gazing Grain”(11). Lastly, she included an alliteration, “My labor and

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