Critical/Analytical Response to poem:
"Because I could not stop for death-" by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson created an unusual theme. The poem portrayed a person
transcending with leaving memories behind. The title would suggest that this poem is
tragic or grievous instead of moral. "Because I could not stop for death-" this title brings
to mind a sad event, as someone's death or end. Emily's poem shows the two sides of
death. On the one side a person is no longer with us, the other side which is strongly
shown, is the memories which a person leaves behind. Emily's theme shows us which of
the two is more substantial. This is shown throughout the poem, an example is during the
third stanza. "We passed the school, where children strove" this quote is a past memory
of the narrator. Shows how we remember even the small things which happen far in the
past. The memories are significant because of the major events which occur. First the
narrator speaks of school during her "recess", symbolizes the narrators childhood. The
words "For only my gossamer, my gown" suggest a marriage of the narrator. These
quotes show how Emily portrayed the theme of living or living in the memories.
- Emily uses "-" at the end of most of the lines. This technique is used to carry a thought.
There is a arithmetic scheme used in Emily's poem, the syllable in each line
alternate from 6 and 8. To keep this amount of syllables Emily has broken the
- Death is given a character and human traits in this poem. Emily wrote death as a person
to make the idea less tragic than death usually is. She first gives death a human trait
during the first and second line. The narrator did not want to stop for death, she wanted to
continue her life. "He kindly stopped for me" shows the human emotion of
...