Because I Could Not Stop for Death
In Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," she uses various types of figurative language and imagery (personification, metaphor, and symbol) to portray the idea that death is not a dreadful event, but actually a pleasant experience. Emily Dickinson uses personification, giving human like qualities to an object or idea. In this poem, death is seen as a gentleman caller. Death is coming to pick her up for a date in a carriage. "He kindly stopped for me-" is ironic because it shows she would rather not go, but since he is a kind, polite man she will go. A metaphor "transfers the sense of one word to another" (Barton/Hudson 99). Dickinson relates a house to a grave:We paused before a House that seemed
The clothes she describes are thin and not able to keep in the warmth. The speaker suddenly feels death upon her because she feels her body become chilled. Most people think of the grim reaper when death is being evaluated. Also, people have the idea that the afterlife is a great experience, but Dickinson wants the reader to feel that the eternal life is boring. The audience can actually imagine the grain grabbing at the sun across the sky. "The Roof" is the new dirt that was dug up and relocated on top of her, and "the Cornice" is the new tombstone molded into the ground. "Fields of Gazing Grain" is a symbol for adulthood or the long middle part of life. -in the Ground-The "Swelling of the Ground" is her new house, her grave. In the first five stanzas the speaker describes the death as a somewhat fun long ride. "Gazing Grain" gives the impression that the grain is gazing or looking and following the sun patterns. And "the setting sun" contributes to old age or near death. In a literal sense, the body temperature automatically decreases when someone dies. The best image Dickinson reveals is the sense of touch. The school symbolizes youth, which is short and fun. Besides symbolism, "We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain" involves personification and visual image.
Common topics in this essay:
Emily Dickinson,
Gazing Grain,
Tulle- Dew,
Swelling Ground,
Stop Death,
Setting Sun-,
Us- Dews,
Ground- Roof,
gazing grain,
Emily Dickinson's,
fields gazing,
Gazing Grain-,
eternal life,
emily dickinson,
house grave,
passed fields gazing,
passed fields,
fields gazing grain,
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Acceptance Essays
