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Views of death and thereafter
The perception of death
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The poems “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickenson and “Holy Sonnets: Death be not proud” by John Donne are about the ways the speakers perceive Death and what happens afterwards. The afterlife is a mystery to everyone. Religions, science, people, and the world have their own opinions on what the afterlife entails for humankind, if there even is one. In the science article, “Science suggest there is an afterlife” by Jeffrey L. Sheler says that science can prove that there is an afterlife. The purpose of these two poems are to portray the different ways people view death.
The afterlife is defined as life after death. The afterlife isn’t known as a fact of today but many people do believe that there is an afterlife. “Nearly 80
The biggest group of people that believe in the afterlife are the Christians (Sheler). For hundreds of years Christians have believed in an “afterlife” but they believe in two types of afterlife where both last an eternity. One is seen as good which they call heaven and another which is seen as bad is called hell. Both of these places have originated thousands of years ago during Greek mythology when the Greek gods rules the earth and the sky and the underworld. This is where the ideas of heaven and hell originated. Peoples view of the afterlife have henceforth changed in the evolution of religion and science.
In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson is portraying death as a gentleman/suitor. Death is personified in the first two sentences in the poem “Because I could not stop for Death- / He kindly stopped for me- “(Dickenson lines 1-2). This demonstrates how the speaker feels about Death. The speaker finds Death as a kind gentleman stopping for her because she couldn’t stop for him. Soon the speaker says, “We slowly drove- He knew no haste / And I had put away / My
The speaker says, “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art no so;” (Donne Lines 1-2). The speaker is trying to act strong and seem brave by calling out death; the speaker calls death weak and tolerable. The speaker says, “Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.” (Donne Line 4). The speaker continues to talk down to death like Death cannot touch him; the speaker sees death as a coward and not responsible for death itself. The speaker says that death cannot control when someone dies but he just goes and gets someone when the die. The speaker believes that fate, chance, kings, and people who kill themselves is what kills not Death. “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,” (Donne line 9). Throughout this poem the speaker’s tone towards death is cocky and
One primary element of death is the experience of dying. Many of of us are scared of the thought of death. When we stop and think about what death will be like, we wonder what it will feel like, will it be painful, will it be scary? In Emily Dickinson's poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, she focuses on what the journey into her afterlife will be like. Dickinson uses the first person narrative to tell her encounter with death. The form that she uses throughout the poem helps to convey her message. The poem is written in five quatrains. Each stanza written in a quatrain is written so that the poem is easy to read. The first two lines of the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me;” (Clugston 2010), gives you a clear view of what the poems central theme is. Unlike most poems that are about death, Dickinson's attitu...
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
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
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, who was 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 a form of gentleman suitor who comes to pick her up with his horse-drawn carriage for a unique death date that will last forever. In fact, she seems completely at ease with the gentleman. Additionally, their journey at the beginning seems pretty peaceful; as they pass through the town, she sees normal events such as children who are playing, fields of grain, and a sunset. After this, dusk takes place and the speakers gets chilly because she was not ready for this journey and she did not wear clothes that would make her feel warm. Consequently, readers get the idea that death is not a choice, so when it comes, that is it. Emily Dickinson, in her poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” uses personification, imagery, and style to deliver her positive and peaceful idea of death and life after death.
In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she uses the structure of her poem and rhetoric as concrete representation of her abstract beliefs about death to comfort and encourage readers into accepting Death when He comes. The underlying theme that can be extracted from this poem is that death is just a new beginning. Dickinson deftly reassures her readers of this with innovative organization and management, life-like rhyme and rhythm, subtle but meaningful use of symbolism, and ironic metaphors. Dickinson organizes the lines into quatrains—stanzas containing four lines—which are frequently used in religious hymns.
William Penn, an English philosopher and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, once said that, “For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.” He is saying that death is not the end of our lives, but just another stage. In the poem “Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne, the poet talks to death itself and gives his opinion on his view of death and others’ views: it is something that cannot control anything, can be replaced by others things, and is not the end of a person’s life. Through the use of his figurative language, Petrachan form, and tone and language, Mr. Donne expresses the message that death is not to be feared because one lives on in heaven.
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.
Many Christians believe that when a person dies, they enter into complete oblivion - a state of non-existence. They remain in dormancy. At the time of the second coming of Jesus, the dead are resurrected and judged. Those who had been saved while on earth will be given special bodies and go to Heaven unlike the unsaved who will go to Hell for eternal punishment (Robinson).
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
Death is inevitable, yet all people deal with it differently. The poems “I Beg You, Brother: Do Not Die” by Yosano Akiko and “The terrorist, He Watches” by Wislawa Szymborska are about people who are going to die in soon. The impending death that the people in the poems face, is a death known to the speakers soly. The people who face death are unaware of the upcoming destruction. The speakers know the people in the poems will die soon and know it for certainty. Both of the speakers in the poem watch people face this impending death, yet they themselves are not in harms way, this means the speakers are not going to die, but simply watch others die. The speakers have no control over the situations of the people dieing. The lack of control both
Death is a concept that every human being must accept eventually. Some fight against death while others embrace it. There are even instances in which one may be living but already feel dead. Death is a common topic used in the writing world. Being that it is so universal it gives the reader a real life connection to the characters in a story. Beliefs of death are different amongst human beings. Some people see death as an ending where others see it more as a beginning. The story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas both express similar and different feelings towards death. “A Rose for Emily” is a story about an elder woman who was not living when she died. Certain life events cause this woman to refuse and ignore change. Death is an ultimate form of change so it was only natural for Miss Emily to ignore it.
“We slowly drove, he knew no haste” (5) they are taking their time to get to where they want to go. They seem as if time is not an issue and they can do what they want and how fast they want it. “And I put away my labor and my leisure too, for his Civility” (6-8) Dickenson is stating that she decided to put everything to the side and not worry about while she was on a “date” with Death. “We passed the School, where Children Strove at Recess in the Ring” (9-10)
John Donne will not accept death as the finale, his religious conviction supports in the belief of eternal life proceeding death. Throughout the poem Donne’s main purpose was the personification of death, his use of figurative language gave death humanistic characteristics and made death vulnerable and unintimidating. The structure of three quatrains and a couplet for the poem allowed for easier understanding of the context because the layout and rhyme scheme helped the poem flow and also revealed the tones. The imagery of death described by Donne breaks down death’s pride and bravado, as well as shine an encouraging light past the process of dying, on to the hope of delivery to eternal life. Each element played a significant role in the interpretation of the paradox of the poem, that ultimately death is not the universal destroyer of life.
After death a person can only go to two places: heaven or hell. Heaven is where God resides with all his angels and Christians who have been saved. Christians who believe the Bible will go to heaven. (John 3:16) Nonbelievers will go to hell. Hell is where Satan resides with all his demons and nonbelievers.
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.