Because I could not stop for death
'Eternity' is a term that brings to life the timeless infinity of both marriage and death. Marriage symbolizes the depth of eternal love and death symbolizes the longevity of eternal rest. The union of these two seemingly opposite realities define the poetic climax of Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death. Dickinson uses numerous features to awaken her audience to the narrator's journey towards immortality. The long-awaited, yet inevitable merger of life and death is emphasized by the use of form and allegorical personification. The application of poetic structure, including capitalization, dashes, and rhyme schemes characterize this passage. On the literal level of this poem, the narrator begins by recollecting her introduction to death. She is carried off and elopes with a man named Death and his partner in crime, Immortality. She is taken past important defining moments in her life until they reach their final destination, which is death. Her reflections upon viewing her life from an outsiders perspective gives her the vision to comprehend her impact on one side of reality, while she subsequently awaits the next.On the symbolic level, Dickinson effectively uses allegory and personification. The fusion of
Capitalization and alliteration are used to full effect to draw importance to the setting of her life, as well as the sun, as well as to encourage the reader to put emphasize on those words. An example of this effect is "We passed the Setting Sun -" (12). The dash also indicates a slightly skeptical mentality, and is used a poetic shock. "We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain - " (11) can be considered a turning point in the poem. Choosing an ABCB scheme makes the poem flow, but not as fast as it would in an ABAB poem. these two ideas results in a deeper level of philosophical significance. This underlines Dickinson's portrayal of death as a very slow process. "Because I could not stop for Death-/He kindly stopped for me-," (1-2) Dickinson implies that most people do not stop to ponder death to the extent that she does, perhaps because of fears that have been embedded in their psyche. Dickinson chose this instead of an ABAB rhyme scheme, due in part to the overall tone of the poem. This is when she must physically liberate herself from the 'people', the personified gazing grains, in her life and make peace with her past. An example of the slant, or near rhyme scheme is ". An example of the masculine scheme is " . The entire poem is made up of six iambic quatrains, which for the majority of the poem follows the 6, 8, 6, 8-syllable pattern.
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,
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Acceptance Essays
