In Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for Death", the readers are taken on a journey through death. The speaker personifies Death as a polite and considerate gentleman; the speaker reveals a calm acceptance towards death. The overall theme of the poem seems to be that death is not feared since it is a natural part of the endless cycle of life. Dickinson uses different techniques to convey the idea of Imagery, tone and word choice in this poem. For example, when Dickinson reveals the different characters or stages in the poem she is requiring the reader to step outside the box and really analyze who and what these characters truly symbolize. The image that Dickinson creates of the Narrator reveals that she is a woman who calmly accepts death and is not afraid of the afterlife "We slowly drove, he knew no haste, / and I had put away/ my labor, and my leisure too, / for his civility" (lines 5-8). The image of Death is that of a suitor who comes calling for the speaker to escort her to eternity. He is described as a polite and patient man who takes the speaker on a journey to discover and reflect upon the individual’s life as they drive off into eternity together. Along the way they stop and reflect upon different stages in the speaker’s life, and how this sentence of Death is not to be feared, it is supposed to be celebrated. With death comes the "rebirth" of nature and the cycle of life continues. The different stanzas showcase different time periods in a person life. These events need to be dealt with, before crossing the threshold of Death.
The tone of this poem is very comforting and the lines flow effortlessly off the page, the reader's are also able to reflect upon their life as the narrator is traveling through different stages of her life "We passed the school, where children strove /At recess, in the ring; /We passed the fields of gazing grain, /We passed the setting sun" (9-12) the narrator is reliving her childhood, children represent early life and the idea of innocence. With every new stage that approaches a threshold is being crossed. This journey goes through three stages: the first stage is childhood "Children strove"(9), the second stage deals with adolescent youth "We passed fields of grain"(11), and finally the end of her life is symbolized by "the setting sun"(12).
“Scanning the poem we find alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. This gives a tone of calm and doesn't detract from the subject but makes it all seem much more palatable than the subject of death normally is” (Greenberg 218). “The one break with the syllabic pattern is the last line, which has one extra syllable. The effect of this is to suggest eternity that does go on. Each line ends with a stressed syllable, which functions to stop the reader to consider each line. The rhyming pattern reflects a desire for unity and exclusion. The rhyme for line two in the first stanza ("He kindly stopped for me") connects to line four of the second stanza ("For his civility") and the fourth line of the last stanza ("Were toward eternity") thereby uniting them. These stanzas belong together because they are all a view of the spiritual world, while stanzas three and four are views of the material world. However, stanza three is linked to stanzas two and five by the first line in stanza three ("We passed the school where children played"), the second line of stanza two ("And I had put away") and the second line of stanza five ("Feels shorter than the day"). This suggests a secondary importance: namely, that stanza three is not a spiritual view but a view of life stages from a spiritual view. The one stanza that stands alone without connective rhyme is the fourth stanza. Burial is not part of eternity and not important because the speaker has realized immortality”.
As the journey continues the speaker is able to trust Death more, and is able to accept the idea of Death without fearing the outcomes. The most vivid description of the whole poem comes at the last stanza where the speaker’s tone switches from joyous and acceptance to contemplative. Here the speaker is reflecting back on the journey she took with Death so many years ago; and how centuries later she has now become Death "Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each / Feels shorter than the day / I first surmised the horses' heads/ Were toward eternity". She is now guiding other individuals through the same course she took centuries ago. The speaker perceives her reality and becomes calm when she realizes her destiny. This poem exudes true passion and imagery that allows the reader's to get lost within this piece of art. Emily Dickinson took the idea of Death and made it into an everyday journey where life doesn't end, it continues throughout eternity. Death is not to be feared, it is a natural part of the endless cycle of the life. Without Death there is no "rebirth" Death is the essence of life!
Work Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for Death". Literature: reading, reacting, writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner, Stephen R. Mendell. Australia: Thomson 2007 312-317
Greenberg, J.M. "Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death." Explicator 49
(1991): 218-220.
Bob Nikunen, Bob. "Poetry explication: Because I could not stop for death, by Emily Dickinson." Helium. Web.
Good essay! I could really see the older woman growing and accepting death and then ushering those after her, over. Did the author use any repetition or alliteration or assonance in this poem? What was your initial thinking of the poem? And did Nikunen have any quotes? But other than that, good essay! :)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I would like to say that you incorporate all teh appropriate poetic terms to explain the poem. You have enclosed imagery, tone, and word choice. Also, you tell how the first three stanzas are tied together by a spiritual essence making "Death" something that is actually a rebirth rather than something to be feared. Your thesis is quite clear: it gathers the three stages of the journey which goes on from childhood to adolescence and then the end of life. I find it interesting that you concluded in such a way because Emily Dickinson was a very dark poet. This poem however celebrates poetry and brings in the ideas of everyday life and the ideas of death in great correlation. As you said, the essence of life is only present in the reactions of death. I like this overall.
ReplyDeleteNow, what I found that were quite troubling were your run-on sentences and comma splices in your second paragraph. That was quite disturbing and confusing. Also, I think if you delve into the three ideas of the "journey" in more depth, your readers would understand the notion you are trying to convey.
Yet, overall, I liked this piece and I enjoyed the flipside of your conclusion. Good job and good luck :)
For what it's worth, I love this poem. I'm glad someone took the time to explicate it. With regard to the analysis itself, I have a few suggestions. For one, it seems to lack sense of unity. I'm not quite sure where the thesis is, and that's a problem. Without it, I have no idea what you're trying to prove. The best I could come up with is the line, "Dickinson uses different techniques to convey the idea of Imagery, tone and word choice in this poem." If that is indeed the thesis, we should see three distinct paragraphs detailing Dickinson's use of imagery, tone, and word choice. But even more than that, we should understand, by essay's end, why these techniques are important. How does she use them to enhance the theme of the poem? Would this poem resonate with her audience to the same degree, had it not included these elements? In short, why did she make the choices she did?
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I noticed you began the vast majority of your sentences with the subject; that makes for a somewhat choppy read. Was it overwhelming? No. I would, however, in the future, try to vary your sentence structure a bit.
Lastly, offer up more concrete evidence. You make quite a few claims as to what the poem is doing, without providing your rationale--or any evidence, for that matter--for believing so.
Remember, this is all constructive. On the whole, I actually enjoyed the essay. I think you touched on Dickison's prodigious talent, and how she imbued so many clever techniqes within her work. This poem, believe it or not, was what really turned me on to Dickinson. Professor Woolf spent the better part of two class periods explicating all that she had done. It's amazing to think so much goes in to so little.
--Chris Delling
You talk about a lot of interestings things in the poem. I really like your discussion about the different stanzas and how they are connected together. However, I am unsure of what your thesis is. The introduction is interesting, but muddled. You should clarify the thesis more. In the beginning you talk about theme, personification, imagery, and interpretation. The introduction should be more narrow and then the following paragraphs can then use those topics to support your thesis. You have really good evidence in your second paragraph. But I was a little confused about who said what. I would like to see you expand more on what they said. Your explanation of the "plot" points is excellent. I never read the poem as the speaker becomes the new death, leading others. It is a really interesting interpretation and I would like to see it fleshed out more.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite poems! I had some difficultly locating your thesis. Try and make it more evident. Also, in your introduction you introduce the overall theme, but your theme contradicts itself, "The overall theme of the poem seems to be that death is not feared since it is a natural part of the endless cycle of life." If the cycle is endless then how does one die? Also, try to steer clear from stating vague and obvious points,"Dickinson uses different techniques to convey the idea of Imagery, tone and word choice in this poem.' Instead, jump into the material and prove your points with qoutes. Overall, you did a good job. I just wished you dove into it some more.
ReplyDelete