Nguyen 1

Andrew Nguyen

White

AP English Literature Per. 3

12 October 2020

The Uncertainties of Death

From the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” it seems to give an interesting

perspective and idea towards death, where it seems to venture into the unknowns of death, what

death really is and how people may perceive death. As shown within the poem, it seems like the

Narrator is picked up by Death himself on a carriage, where they begin to travel and pass places

such as school, the rings in recess, fields, and a sunset. At the end of the carriage ride they seem

to have stopped in front of a house that represents the “afterlife” or “eternity.” Throughout the

poem there are many instances of literary devices such as personification and imagery in order to

provide a better emphasis towards the significance of what the poem is trying to show

throughout each tool, in order to ultimately come to the theme or life lesson that can be learned.

Within lines 1-2, it begins to personify death into a person as shown, “Because I could not stop

for Death – He kindly stopped for me.” Death is usually defined “as the action or fact of dying or

being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism;” however, within a connotative

perspective it can be defined as something dreadful or gloomy, where eventually in life people

will end dying and mourn for those who have passed. From this the purpose of personification of

Death could be to emphasize on the human characteristics of life where throughout the poem, we

can see Death guiding the speaker throughout their own life with instances such as the “Ring,”

“Fields of Gazing Grain,” and even the “Setting Sun” where eventually at the end it has reached

the end. This in turn could tie into the idea of time being finite, where with each second, minute,
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hour, or year that passes by, it can never be returned until one’s time is “spent.” This can further

tie with what can be seen within the poem’s title, “Because I could not stop for Death,” where

even despite the limited time given, the speaker could not even wait for death where ar the end of

the poem it seems that the speaker eventually leaves death to move on to another “afterlife” or

“eternity.” Within line 13, the poem begins to have a change in tone, where the once tranquil and

calm tone that the poem provided originally quickly transitioned into a sinister and chilling tone,

which in turn could emphasize on the unknowns and uncertainty of what occurs in Death. Within

line 14 it further emphasizes on the sinister and chilling tones along with the uncertainty that

comes with Death through the use of imagery, “The Dews drew quivering and Chill.” Usually

the words “quivering and chill” are commonly associated with definitions such as trembling or

unpleasant feelings; however, within a connotative perspective it could be associated with

emotions such as fear and dread where one may have regretted a situation that they were placed

in. From this the purpose of imagery within this line is to put emphasis towards the uncertainty

and possible fears that come with the idea of Death and picture how it may look like, where as

the sun passed the speaker and Death, dews (like liquids or droplets) began to form which in turn

gives the eerie feeling that the poem provides within that specific line. It helps to emphasize on

the possible loneliness and isolation that come with death, where it seems to be cold, which in

turn can be associated with the images of winter and the ideas that come with it. By the end of

the poem, it seems to look like the speaker and the narrator have arrived at a house, a possible

grave, in order to put the speaker to rest. As Death leaves to eternity, the speaker is left to

themselves but thoughts of their own from what it seems, emphasizing the unknowns and

uncertainty of death. This in turn can possibly come up with the theme of coming to acceptance,

whether it be scenarios such as death or coming to a conclusion or issue.