“Because I could not stop for Death”

A metaphor is developed through the poem, as Dickinson compares her journey with Death to a voyage with a coachman. In the first stanza, she describes how the carriage “stopped for me” (2) to wait for her to get on. Her getting on the carriage is similar to one ly

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Her optimistic descriptions of death influence people to rethink their tendency to link death with terror. A wintriness rushes upon her readers, suddenly realizing the presence of a menacing Death, rather than a courteous coachman. The use of kindly emphasizes that she sees death as a polite coachman, who courteously stops for all his riders. An image of a sudden tempest blowing against the poet appears, and the poet has only a light gown and a netted shawl to protect her from the grasp of death. In reality, death harshly takes away the lives of many people.

Emily Dickinson has a bizarre view on death, since in this poem, she writes of death not with a fearful, but with an ironic tone. They pass a school, which symbolizes childhood; they pass the “Fields of Gazing Grain” (11), which signifies adulthood. She begins the poem with such a light-hearted attitude that immediately contrasts her view with the conventional dreadful view of death. While she passes her tomb, night also falls upon her. Finally, the poet leaves this world as the horses carry her to eternity. Another irony is set up in describing death and his ways with human life. These three lines create an image of a capsized house with her tombstone, which is the cornice, lying before the house. This scene creates an image of happy children, indulged in game playing, unaware of the transience of life. “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality” (3-4).

Common topics in this essay:
Emily Dickinson, Swelling Ground, Horses Heads, Gossamer Gown, Setting Sun, Gazing Grain, , – /, death dickinson, ironic tone, ride horse-drawn carriage, ride horse-drawn, towards eternity, death courteous, dying ride, horse-drawn carriage, death carriage, dying ride horse-drawn, views death,

Approximate Word count = 983
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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