Because I Could Not Stop For Death Summary

“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, was first published in 1862. Dickinson was known for writing poetry mainly about death. When we think about death, we imagine something terrifying, but in this poem it is seen in a different perspective. In the poem, the speaker comes upon death, but not in a scary or bad way. Yet, death has approached her in a gentleman-like way. In this poem it’s talked about as a kind human being, who is simply taking her along a journey around town and death is just a stop away. While reading the poem we believe that the speaker is going to her death bed but once we reach the last stanza of the poem, we are left in quite a surprise. In the beginning of the stanza death arrives to pick up the speaker. She says “Because I could not stop for Death- He kindly waited for me,” (1-2) this shows that Dickinson represents death as a generous person. He’s also described as being patient, when in reality death can’t stop to wait for someone. We then see that death and the speaker aren’t the only ones going along this ride but so is “immortality” (4). “We slowly drove- he knew no haste” (5). By saying this she shows us that he has patience and that death isn’t in a hurry to get to their
The speaker tells us how death is patient and generous. Death not only is being a gentleman to the speaker, but he also takes her on a carriage ride. On the ride he takes her through places that she remembers, even one where she is left buried. We are left thinking that the speaker is alive throughout their journey and that death is taking her on a ride to her burial spot. But once we reach the last stanza of the poem, we are then surprised that the speaker has been dead for centuries and that it’s her spirit thinking about the day of her death. We are then told that her journey not only continues after her grave, but it goes on into