Emily Dickinsons View of Death
Emily Dickinson’s odd lifestyle of reclusion had a profound effect on the way she viewed certain aspects of life. The author was said to be an introvert, and permitted very limited contact to a small group of trusted friends. Although she was a very private person, readers get an intimate look into her thoughts and opinions through her work. A large number of her poems discuss death in a light that almost seems inviting No doubt influenced by her odd lifestyle. Her attitude toward dying is light and unafraid. In her poems “Because I could not stop for Death" and "I heard a Fly buzz--when I died" she shows the end of her life in her physical body, and the beginning of an eternal existence in the afterlife. "Many of Emily Dickinson's Poems dramatize of consciousness."(Cunningham,1). Most of her poems discussed the continued life of the mind and thought after physicality.
While most poets and writers speak of death as something to fear and one of the darkest parts of our existence, Dickinson puts a lightness and comfortableness to the subject. She describes a carriage ride with death that seems relaxed and accepting. “[…] The Carriage held but just ourselves- And Immortality” (3). She feels no fear as she is driven to eternity, passing school yards and fields along the way. Death slowly relieves her of all worries as the sun sets. It seems as if Dickinson is communicating from beyond the grave, describing a life she had passed through many centuries ago when the horses guided her slowly away to her grave. Although her body has been buried in the ground for a very long time, her spirit or conscience lives on afterward into eternity. In contrast, in "I heard a Fly buzz when I died" the author has not been dead centuries but just moments. She describes her loved ones being around. The author states, "The eyes around-- had wrung them dry-- And Breaths were gathering firm [...](5-6)
The most common belief held at the time Dickinson wrote her poem on death
While most poets and writers speak of death as something to fear and one of the darkest parts of our existence, Dickinson puts a lightness and comfortableness to the subject. She describes a carriage ride with death that seems relaxed and accepting. “[…] The Carriage held but just ourselves- And Immortality” (3). She feels no fear as she is driven to eternity, passing school yards and fields along the way. Death slowly relieves her of all worries as the sun sets. It seems as if Dickinson is communicating from beyond the grave, describing a life she had passed through many centuries ago when the horses guided her slowly away to her grave. Although her body has been buried in the ground for a very long time, her spirit or conscience lives on afterward into eternity. In contrast, in "I heard a Fly buzz when I died" the author has not been dead centuries but just moments. She describes her loved ones being around. The author states, "The eyes around-- had wrung them dry-- And Breaths were gathering firm [...](5-6)
The most common belief held at the time Dickinson wrote her poem on death