Death: Faith in an Eternal Afterlife
While thinking of death, thoughts of grief, despair and worry arise. Perhaps this is a product of the darkness often times portrayed of death from contemporary literature, movies, and music. Movies such as “Schindler’s List” and music such as Neil Young’s “Tonight’s the Night” are just a few examples of entertainment that show the darkness and finality of death. These forms of medium only present the idea, as no one who wrote them actually experienced death and therefore the dark thoughts associated with it are ambiguous. In “712 (Because I Could not Stop for Death)”, poet Emily Dickinson also shows the darkness associated but she has a different view of death. She writes from the standpoint of a narrator
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These traits are shown in the first stanza when the speaker says “I could not stop for Death –/ He kindly stopped for me –” (1-2). From the opening of the poem, we see Dickinson capitalizing the word death. As readers, we cannot further prove this as intentional because throughout the poem Dickinson pays no attention to literary rules and capitalizes an abundance of other words which should not be capitalized. Although the capitalization of “Death” cannot be proven, her reference to death as “He” does support an argument of personifying Death. Since Death is indeed thought of as a male, he shows that he has impressive gentlemanlike qualities. In the quote at the beginning of the paragraph, Death is shown to kindly stop his carriage for the narrator. Also while driving he is said to have “slowly drove – He knew no haste” (5), which displays he is not in a hurry nor is he a rude driver and exhibits the idea of his chivalry. Once again Death is shown as gallant when the narrator says “I had put away / My labor, and my leisure too, / For His Civility –”(6-8). The good manners shown by Death were so powerful that the narrator stops her labor and leisure for them assuring readers that Death is civilized, peaceful and …show more content…
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
Dickinson gives us a joyous and happy view of death, which is like a kind gentleman that takes her on a journey. He is so civil, therefore. she willingly gives him her “labor” and “leisure”. She is not afraid of death, she instead receives it calmly. Whitman’s view is the contrary.
Dickinson 's poem uses poetic devices of personification to represent death, she represents death as if it were a living being. Dickinson 's capitalization of the word “DEATH”, causes us to see death as a name, in turn it becomes noun, a person, and a being, rather than what it truly is, which is the culminating even of human life. The most notable use of this, is seen in the very first few lines of the poem when Dickinson says “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me”. In her poem Dickinson makes death her companion, as it is the person who is accompanying her to her grave. She states that death kindly stopped for her and she even goes as far as to give death the human ability to stop and pick her up. The occasion of death through Dickinson use of personification makes it seem like an interaction between two living beings and as a result the poem takes on a thoughtful and light hearted tone. The humanization of death makes the experience more acceptable and less strange, death takes on a known, familiar, recognizable form which in turn makes the experience more relatable. As the poem
“We paused before a House that seems” (line17 Dickinson). In the third stand, the speaker “passed” (lines 9,11,12) her lifetime on the trip, but the speaker and the death “paused” before an architecture now. The speed of the trip is slow down, and the speaker sees her destination. “A Swelling of the Ground/The roof was scarcely-/The cornice in the ground-”(lines 18-20 Dickinson). According to this description, it is easy to infer that the architecture is a cemetery, which is the destination of the speaker and her new house after she dead. “Since then-/Centuries-and yet/Feels shorter than the day” (Lines 21-22 Dickinson). To the speaker, it makes no difference, whether it is only one day or a thousand years because her body was dead and cannot leave the cemetery forever, but the speaker’s soul is get rid of the limitation of the body and has the eternal life. Compared with the immortality after death, the speaker feels the lifetime is shorter than a day and time is meaningless to her. “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads/Were toward Eternity-” (lines 23-24 Dickinson). The speaker starts to suspect that the destination of the trip is not the “House”, but immortality. Although, the body of the speaker was buried in the cemetery and stay there forever, her soul can continue the trip, and the direction of the horses’ head is the
...humanize death and let the reader feel that death is a person who he can deal with. Also, she constantly uses imagery in her lines and she painted a perfect scene of what is going to happen when everybody dies, so the reader would have almost a clear image that will comfort him. Another literary element she was awesome in using is style. Dickinson’s organization had a hidden meaning of faith after death. Also, her punctuation use was so smart to show the eternity after death. Over all, using this combination of literary styles helped her to deliver her ideas easily and clearly after spending some time contemplating behind the lines. It is one death but different perspectives.
When Death stops for the speaker, he reins a horse-drawn carriage as they ride to her grave. This carriage symbolizes a hearse of which carries her coffin to her grave a day or two after her death. As they ride, they pass, “the School… / the Fields of Gazing Grain— / [and] the Setting Sun—” (lines 9-12). These three symbolize the speakers life, from childhood in the playgrounds, to labor in the fields, and finally to the setting sun of her life. When the speaker and Death arrive at the house, it is night.
... they contrast on their perception of death. This allows one to conclude that Dickinson views death and afterlife as indecisive and unclear. Dickinson uses different strategies to highlight the changeable character of death. In “I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” death signifies sorrow, but in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” death is kind to the narrator. Dickinson indicates that death is unpredictable. Nesmith also writes that “while everything heretofore is like a well-rehearsed play—controlled, orchestrated, and scripted, proceeding according to ritual—the ill-timed fly ruins the finale. Yet death occurs anyways” (165). Death can mean different things such as, the end of life or the beginning eternity. Death does not follow an agenda and is far past human understanding. Death has many points of view and is always unable to be scheduled around a human’s plan.
In the beginning of the poem, Dickinson writes, "Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me." Not only does Dickinson portray death as a man, but she does so in a way that the man is not perceived in a negative way. She writes as if the man is her lover, kindly stopping in a way as if he was to suit her. Death is not our enemy, but instead is our companion. In the next two lines, in lines three and four, Dickinson then uses a metaphor to compare a carriage to death.... ...
Emily Dickinson is one of the numerous poets who uses death as the subject of several of her poems. In her poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," Death is portrayed as a gentleman who comes to give the speaker. a ride to eternity. Throughout the poem, Dickinson develops her unusual. interpretation of death and, by doing so, composes a poem full of imagery that is both unique and thought provoking.
The speaker believes that there is life after death, she believes that death isn’t the end but it is one step closer to eternity. She believes that death is something that happens to us and is not something we can challenge or decide when and how it happens. In the poem Dickenson presents death as something other than death. She uses the poetic device of personification to present death as if it was a human being. (Napierkowski 26-38.) She humanizes the experience making it more acceptable, fearsome and less abstract. (Napierkowski 26-38.) She capitalizes death to make the word more like someone’s name rather than being depicted as the end of human life. Dickenson describes “death” as her companion who is accompanying her to her resting place, her grave. (Napierkowski 26-38.) She states in the poem that “He kindly stopped for me.” Therefore making the event of death, through her use of personification an interaction between human
In these poems, the reader can see the vivid images that Emily Dickinson describes as death. The overall point of the references to death seems to be that it is nothing to be worried about. In these poems, the reader sees death as a pain reliever, as an insignificant fly, and as a gentleman. Perhaps these pictures are simply ways that Dickinson shows death as pleasant and undeniable.
Life and death are but trails to eternity and are seen less important when viewed in the framework of eternity. Emily Dickinson’s poem Death is a gentleman taking a woman out for a drive.” Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson 1-2). Emily describes being a busy woman who is caught up with everyday situations. When it comes to death, no one plans on a time or date to die; what Emily is identifying as a tragic event is translated to being a casual experience. Emily writes, “The carriage held but just ourselves, and immortality,” (3-4). Emily describes her ride with death, but affiliates a third rider Immortality. “Davidson does not emphasize what is gained after death; she emphasizes what is lost because of death,” (Privatsky 35). Emily’s third passenger has a wide variety of interpretations. Normally, one doesn’t think about death, yet Emily’s approach to death is similar of the approach to immortality. My viewpoint is Emily construes her belief in a soul that does not die but live on till eternity. “The idea of immortality is confronted with the fact of physical disintegration. We are not told what to think; we are told to look at the situation,” (Tate 26). According to Dickinson’s words, He slowly drove He knew no haste (5-6). Emily describes a relaxing slow pace towards an unknown destination. On the way she enjoys the peaceful scenes. “We passed the school, where children strove, At recess – In the Ring-“(Dickinson 9-10). Emily is reflecting in her past, this may also be seen as the beginning of a life cycle. Emily then goes on to say, We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain- (11). The phrase that she decides to use is judicious because she is not the observer, but instead she is the observed. At that point, she further goes on to describe “Setting Sun-“ as the last scene in her ride.” All three of these images suggest phases of the life cycle that the speaker has passed and is passing through and clue us in on her experience…Time has stopped for her, and the fields of grain do the gazing, not her,” (Semansky 34-35).
In the first stanza, when she says "I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me", she’s not ready to die but accepts the fact that it is a natural thing that happens to all human beings, and comes at its own time, no matter what you are doing or where you are it will come and take you, to which she seems content. She personifies death as if it was a kind gentleman, or her groom that comes to pick her up and take her away in his carriage on a pleasant ride; she also realizes that ironically someone else is riding along with them, Immortality—looking at it in a positive way. It is also interesting to point out how she separates death from immortality, when she says “The carriage held but just ourselves—and immortality”. She seems excited about her journey with her two companions, and feels so pleased by this gentleman’s courtesy that she gives up her distress and freedom to enjoy it –when you are dead, there are no more troubles and no more leisure time. She feels happy with her exchange of life for death’s civility.
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)”.
In Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” Dickinson portrays what it is like to go through the process of dying. According to Mark Spencer of the Explicator, the speaker portrays death as a two-step process. It is said that this particular poem makes more sense if read from the perspective that reconciliation with God is a delayed process. In this poem the speaker has ended their existence on earth but have yet to reach the final step. The horses are pulling the carriage “toward Eternity” which suggests that the final step has yet to be reached. The speaker says that “Centuries” feel “Shorter than the day” implying that although an end will come, it will not come soon. Although the end is said not to come soon, it will seem like nothing to those who have passed. A grave site is compared to a house when the carriage passes a “Swelling in the ground”, because indeed the speaker will stay in this home until her final day comes. The speaker then becomes “quivering and chill” wearing her thin flimsy clothing but then realizes that the clothing has become appropriate for what is to come. The speaker indicates that the carriage is only pausing because the current state she is in is only temporary (Spence). It is said that the speaker looks death in the eye and escapes ...
In poetry, death is referred as the end of literature and it is associated with feeling of sorrows. However Emily Dickinson demonstrates that death is not the end of literature or feeling of sadness but death is a new element of inspiration in poetry and is the beginning of a new chapter in our life. In the poem ‘’Because I Could Not Stop for Death’, she discusses the encounter of a women with death, who passed away centuries ago. Dickenson uses metaphors and similes to show that the process of dying can be an enjoyable moment by appreciating the good moments in life, and by respecting death rather than fearing it. Also Dickinson portrays death in a humorous way as she compares it to man seducing her to go to her death as well, to childhood games that show the innocence of this encounter (Bloom). The poem is a reflection of how unpredictable death can be. Death is a scary process in life that should not be feared because it should be celebrate as new start.