An Doan

American lit 2nd

“Because I could not stop for Death” poem by Emily Dickinson.

The certainty of death and the uncertainty hour of death are sources of grief

through human’s life. Death brought consternation feeling to many people because of its

unpredictable arrival; many people except Emily Dickinson. She demonstrated her

sentiment for death in a total distinctive aspect. “Because I could not stop for Death”

poem conveyed Emily Dickinson’s sanguine perspective on the progress facing death and

placed this dreadful event in a wedding frame to regard an essential message.

“Because I could not stop for Death” is one of the greatest poem in the English

literary; it is flawless to the last detail. Emily painted a precise picture, not merely

beautiful but inevitably blended with important message. Every stanza extends and

emphasizes her thoughts, her feelings about unceasing approach of death. At first stanza,

death is not an abstract concept but a personification as she wrote “He kindly stopped for

me” and “the Carriage held but just Ourselves”. Death greets the speaker as her groom;

he “kindly” picks her up extravagant in a carriage perhaps because death comes with

eternal salvation “and Immortality”. They go on together with unhurried pace, without

any “haste”. As the speaker’s journey with death, he takes her through variant events: her

childhood, her adulthood, and finally, her day of death as signaled in third stanza:

“Recess” symbolizes free youth, “Fields of Gazing Grain” symbolizes attainment of

physical maturity and “Setting Sun” symbolizes on set of old age. Emily applies the

usage of anaphora upon repeated words “We passed the” to significant the usual phrases

of human’s life. In stanza four, the speaker experiences “quivering” because of the “chill”
is giving readers the note that she is not warmly dressed. In fact, her garments are more

appropriate for a wedding: she had “Gown”, her “Tippet” only “Tulle”. Those clothes

are representing a new beginning, other than a funeral or the end, but indeed portraying a

new life. The speaker objectified the terror of death; she is ready to accept it. She puts

aside all her “labor” and “leisure”, there is nothing to hold her back anymore, she feels no

remorse. Her description the grave as her “House” indicates how comfortable she feels

about death. The last stanza contents paradox to accentuate on immortality; even though

after centuries pass, so delightful is her new life that time has no motion, those times of

her earthly life is “Feeling shorter than the Day”. The framework of the poem is, in fact,

the two abstractions, eternity and mortality, which are made to affiliate the painted

picture with an ultimate message.

The overall message of the poem might seem to imply that death is not to be

feared since it is natural part of the endless cycle nature. That is not all of it; her

unsurpassed devote statement is hidden in the last stanza. Why did she pair “Horses’

Heads” with the word “Eternity”? This clear reference of Scripture further supports

Emily’s eternal message: in both book of Zechariah and Revelation, horse are mentioned

as deliverers of fire, smoke, and sulfur destroy mankind when Christ returns. Emily takes

on this eternal perspective regarding her life by believing in God. Though these horses

described in the book of Revelation have not yet been seen today, Emily believes that this

will occur at the end times with only evidence being that it is written in the Scriptures.

“Because I could not stop for Death” reflects Emily’s personality and religious belief.

She was optimistic about her ultimate fate and appeared to see death as a new beginning.
 “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson is the most enigmatic

poem. The two elements of her poem are the aspect of death and the perception of an

afterlife. Emily’s conclusive message convey a valuable view about death, it is simply a

concept mankind cannot comprehend, people should never be afraid of it, but rather

accepting it with all the trust in God.