Because I Could Not Stop For Death Analysis

Death is a topic I really don’t like discussing. I find it awkward to talk about and things you say within the topic of death can be misconstrued in so many ways. When you think about it, every living thing dies eventually; without proper care and maintenance, some living things die quicker than others. When I read “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, it threw me off guard of how the poem was structured, when it came to the tone and her particular word choice for different things. I decided to write about this poem because, out of all the poems we were to read for class, this poem stuck out to me the most, and also to challenge myself and write about a topic that really isn’t in my comfort zone. Because death is inevitable

The poem starts off with death giving the speaker a grand gesture by picking her up in a carriage, since the speaker “could not stop” for a reason that is unknown (line 1). But the speaker is descriptive, by letting the reader know that death stopped “kindly” (line 2). Because of this kindness displayed by “death,” the reader can assume that “death” is not something to be afraid of. As the poem continues, the speaker begins to gets comfortable with “death,” by putting “his civility” before her “labor and…leisure” (lines 7-8). This act of selflessness made by the speaker comes from the previous act of kindness made by “death.” As the poems progresses, the speaker starts associating herself with “death” and immortality, who is also riding in the carriage, by saying “we” and “us,” as if she and “death” has become one. Not many people would associate themselves with something as negative as “death” and immortality, but off of close inspection, one can assume that the three individual figures that were once riding on the carriage together have become one and will encounter the afterlife together. Personification might have been used to humanize “death” but the tone throughout the store further enhances that the speakers journey towards, and after

The speaker discusses her trip with death in a very calm manner. The speaker describes how “death” drove the carriage, which was very slowly, as if he was in no hurry to get him, the speaker, and “immortality” to their destination (line 5). One could assume that the speaker’s death experience was not quick and abrupt, but slow and prolonged. The poem progresses and the different places that the carriage passes by are pointed out by the speaker as well. Instead of dark and dreary imagery, the speaker points out kids playing on a playground, a wide field of unpicked crops, and an orange sunset passing her, “death” and immortality by (lines 9-12). These visuals are very serene, like something you would see on a regular, ordinary day. This part of the poem expresses the journey the speaker has as she ventures to her afterlife. The speaker’s trek into the afterlife has somewhat of a reminiscing feeling to it; she lived a plain, but good life, and now it’s about to come to an end. Towards the very end of the poem, the speaker recalls the carriage stopping in front of her “house,” which is a swelling under the ground (lines 17-18). The lump in the ground is the speaker’s casket, but she does not refer to it as that, but her home. The speaker has come to the realization that she will be here for all of “eternity” and is accepting of that (line 24). However, the symbols portrayed throughout the