An Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s Poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”
An analysis of Emily Dickinson’s Poem “Because I could not stop for Death”
The background of Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet of the 19th century. Her writing style is quiet weird at that time. Here is a description of Emily Dickinson from the book The recognition of Emily Dickinson: selected criticism since 1890[1], “Her poetry is not like any other poetry of her time; it is not like any of the innumerable kinds of verse written today.” Therefore, her literary status was not very high until the middle of 20th century. The following is an introduction from Wikipedia[2]. Dickinson lived an introverted and hermetic life. Although she wrote, at the last count, 1,789 poems, only a handful of them were published during her lifetime. All of these were published anonymously and some may have been published without her knowledge. This poem of Emily Dickinson “Because I could not stop for Death” is the number 712 which is one of those unpublished poems during her lifetime. There are a great number of her poems which concerning the subject “Death.” And this one “Because I could not stop for Death” is a typical of her works.
Analysis of “Because I could not stop for Death” Because I could not stop for Death— He kindly stopped for me— The Carriage held but just Ourselves— And Immortality. The writer clearly points out the main idea of this poem in the first stanza. Unlike ordinary people’s feeling of death, the description of death in this poem is very different or even weird. From death to immortality, the tone of Emily Dickinson seems very free and easy. It seems that death is nothing more than a happy journey on a breezy day. The Death in here looks like a kindly gentleman instead of a Grim Reaper. Blake and Wells[3] have a statement in their book, “He is a gentleman taking a lady out for a drive . . . The terror of death is objectified through this figure of the genteel
The background of Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet of the 19th century. Her writing style is quiet weird at that time. Here is a description of Emily Dickinson from the book The recognition of Emily Dickinson: selected criticism since 1890[1], “Her poetry is not like any other poetry of her time; it is not like any of the innumerable kinds of verse written today.” Therefore, her literary status was not very high until the middle of 20th century. The following is an introduction from Wikipedia[2]. Dickinson lived an introverted and hermetic life. Although she wrote, at the last count, 1,789 poems, only a handful of them were published during her lifetime. All of these were published anonymously and some may have been published without her knowledge. This poem of Emily Dickinson “Because I could not stop for Death” is the number 712 which is one of those unpublished poems during her lifetime. There are a great number of her poems which concerning the subject “Death.” And this one “Because I could not stop for Death” is a typical of her works.
Analysis of “Because I could not stop for Death” Because I could not stop for Death— He kindly stopped for me— The Carriage held but just Ourselves— And Immortality. The writer clearly points out the main idea of this poem in the first stanza. Unlike ordinary people’s feeling of death, the description of death in this poem is very different or even weird. From death to immortality, the tone of Emily Dickinson seems very free and easy. It seems that death is nothing more than a happy journey on a breezy day. The Death in here looks like a kindly gentleman instead of a Grim Reaper. Blake and Wells[3] have a statement in their book, “He is a gentleman taking a lady out for a drive . . . The terror of death is objectified through this figure of the genteel