The Controversial Theme Of Death In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

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Death has always been a subconscious controversial subject for the American society. Even though we will all inevitably die, humans resist the subject of their own passing due to the mere idea of it. However, the concept of death has never deterred Emily Dickinson from expressing certain values that are typically not accepted, within her poetry. Even if death portrays itself in different forms, whether it’s abrupt and cruel or expected and peaceful, there is only one true intent of death: to take life from the living.
For instance, within the poem “I heard a Fly buzz-- when I died--,” the speaker automatically addresses that she “heard a Fly buzz- when [she] died”. However, the “fly” did not interrupt the speaker's situation at first. In fact, …show more content…

However, there seems to be a larger idea about death, similar to that of “I heard a Fly buzz-- when I died--,” in which Dickinson is trying to portray within the poem. Once again, the poem begins with a certain depiction of death as the speaker expresses that she “could not stop for Death” but that “He kindly stopped” for her. At the time, Death “knew no haste,” meaning that he did not mean any ill intent towards the speakers passing. However, the idea that death “kindly” stopped for the speaker, who “could not stop for” him, insinuates that the speaker was not ready for death to overtake her, but that death was going to take her anyway. Since death “knew no haste,” he wasn’t going to rush her death, but the speaker was definitely going to pass away. Additionally, the speaker had “put away / [her] labor,” suggesting that she was not going to try hard to avoid death, and the speaker had also put away “[her] leisure too”. “Leisure” is defined as ‘spare’ or ‘free’ time, so, if the speaker was to “put away” her “leisure,” then the speaker is demonstrating that she is reluctantly accepting the hands of death. Within the third stanza, it’s detailed that death’s carriage was passing by a School, “where Children strove” during recess. They passed “fields of gazing grain” and the “setting sun”. These

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