"Because I could not stop for Death"

A detailed Summary of "Because I could not stop for Death"

Death and immortality are some of the principal concerns of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In contrast to the conventional interpretations of death, Dickinson views death as a courteous gentleman. In her poem "Because I could not stop for Death," she compares dying to a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, and savors the company of Death, who is personified as the coachman. As they travel around town, Dickinson recollects her childhood and her adulthood; they pause before a nearly buried house - buried by her memories and reminiscences. At last, the carriage brings her towards an eternity with death. Most people desire a lengthened existence of life, but Dickinson does not mind an eternity with death. She speaks of death with a blithe tone, trying to lighten the mood at this momentous instant of a person's life. Through her extended metaphor, she uses vivid imagery accompanied by her ironic tone to give the message that one should not fear death, but make the best of life.

A metaphor is developed through the poem, as Dickinson compares her journey with Death to a voyage with a coachman. In the first stanza, she describes how the carriage "stopped for me" (2) to wait for her to get on. Her getting on the carriage is similar to one ly

Through this blithely written poem, the poet creates not a scary, but a friendly impression of death. Dickinson uses an elaborate metaphor to compare dying to a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. She kindles emotions in her readers by using imagery, so that through this poem, her readers get to witness a more gentle side of death. Dickinson shows how fascinating a trip with death can be, and how she can finally enjoy the finality of death as she heads towards eternity. Her optimistic descriptions of death influence people to rethink their tendency to link death with terror. Dying can be looked as a journey from one world to another. It is an escalation from a world filled with the uncertainties of life to the underworld of permanence and eternity.

Emily Dickinson has a bizarre view on death, since in this poem, she writes of death not with a fearful, but with an ironic tone. She begins the poem with such a light-hearted attitude that immediately contrasts her view with the conventional dreadful view of death. In the first stanza, she mocks, "Because I could not stop for Death - / He kindly stopped for me -" (1-2). The use of kindly emphasizes that she sees death as a polite coachman, who courteously stops for all his riders. In reality, death harshly takes away the lives of many people. The poet extends her ironic tone to stanza two, where she writes "And I had to put away / My labor and my leisure too, / For His Civility -" (6-8). Civility means

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Approximate Word count = 983
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English