The poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson has symbols, imagery, and metaphors to enhance the meaning of death reflections. The symbol of the grave is expressed when the speaker claims, “A swelling of the ground” (Dickinson 14). Once buried, the grave swells, meaning the amount of sand deposited on the body is visible on the top of the ground. Visual imagery is evident when the speaker paints a picture of children in the school by saying, “We passed the school where children played/their lessons scarcely done” (9-10). The descriptions give readers a clear picture of the journey to immortality and what the speaker found impressive on the way. The imagery helps readers understand that death is not impatient because it carries the speaker at their pace. The carriage is a metaphor for the journey, suggesting it is each person’s last journey into immortality. The speaker argues that “The carriage held but just ourselves/ And Immortality” means no one else was inside (3-4). The implication is that when death comes, it carries each person alone to their destination of immortality.
The poem’s historical context is based on Dickinson’s experience with losing loved ones and religious teachings. According to Dickinson in “Emily Dickinson and Death,” Dickinson lived near a cemetery for fifteen years during her youth and experienced the loss of several friends along with her favorite nephew, Gib, leading to her nervous prostration (1). Writing about death was one way of conquering her fear and accepting its inevitability. Dickinson experienced an emotional breakdown due to her love for Gib and also because she could not understand how death operates, instigating fear. Moreover, Dickinson was born into a religious family that prepared people for death earlier before it happened, which explains how the poem prepares the speaker for her immortality through the carriage.
The main theme of the poem is the acceptance of death’s inevitability. Dickinson seeks to assure readers that there is no need to resist death because it must come, and a person has no way of escaping it. It relies on a positive tone by painting death as gentle and kind when the speaker indicates, “He kindly stopped for me” (2). The suggestion is that people should not be afraid of it but rather accept it when it is time to depart from the world. Besides, Dickinson implies that people fear death, and that is why they resist it, but that should not be the case as death is quite the opposite. While Dickinson assures readers the poem was a way of assuring herself that she did not need to fear death because, like her loved ones, one day, she too would die.
The poem is free verse because although there is rhyme in some stanzas, it does not rhyme in a specified pattern. The first and second stanzas have no rhyme, but the third and fourth have rhyming words “grain and sun,” “ground and mound” (11-12 & 14 &16). It is also a lyric poem written from the first person point of view, expressing their deep feelings about death. Readers can feel Dickinson’s emotions and feelings resonating throughout the poem, creating intimacy between her and them. The poem’s first stanza is a verse because it is a part of the poem.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. Because I could not stop for death. Discover poetry.com. Retrieved from https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/emily-dickinson/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death/
Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinson and Death. Emily Dickinson Museum, 2024. Retrieved from https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/emily-dickinson/biography/special-topics/emily-dickinson-and-death/
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