Horses Heads Were Toward Eternity

Death – the inevitable fate of every living person, is often a stage in the cycle of life that is often feared, avoided, or misunderstood. Often time’s literary works contain elements of death to symbolize the end or rebirth of a person or place. Death shows no bias, no prejudice or discriminatory action. Death, quite simply, is the ultimate fate. It can be argued, that without death, there is no reason to live because there is nothing to fear. In a way, the same can be said about literature, but in reverse, Louise Rosenblatt, a prominent Reader Response theorist, stated, “Text is just ink on a page until the reader comes along and gives it life.” She argued that without readers and their individual perceptions of any given text, it is just
The speaker states, “Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity,” (21-24). The speaker references horses’ heads, she is mentioning the horses that drew the carriage and lead her to her eternity. It is important to note that, at this point the poem brings upon closure and melancholy. Despite the overwhelming sadness, there is a peaceful undertone and allure to the poems structure. The topic of death is often times hard to digest; it is typically avoided and can also cause people of any age discomfort. However, in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Emily Dickinson creates a safe haven and reminds readers that it is about perception and personal interpretation. When analyzing the poem and only considering the text, there is a dark picture painted. However, when readers begin to use their own inferences, the poem is given a different tone and purpose. The poem enables readers to create their own ideas of death and
Many readers even confuse the very way it is written with simple, plain text. On the contrary, One Art is written in and follows the Villanelle structure. This structure is often thought of as one of the most challenging and hard to understand structures in poetry. However, to the untrained eye, the poem is casual and flows smoothly and simply. The poem often times forces readers to look within themselves to determine the meaning, therefore giving the poem the flexibility to fit everyone’s situation. Where many might think flexibility is an asset, in this case it hinders the poems full