Dickinson’s poem number 712, “Because I could not stop for Death”, and Shakespeare’s poem 13, “O, that you were yourself! But, love, you are,” both offer a look at death, its consequences, and its implications (l.1, l.1). Yet, the poems show that one can have drastically different tones and still come to the same realization about death.
Looking at the details, Dickinson’s poem has a strong, powerful tone that signifies one is conquering and controlling a passive death. The powerful tone is highlighted in the words and syntactic structure featured in the first line two lines. Starting with “Because I could not stop for Death,” puts the speaker in a position of knowledge because they are immediately defining the situation as signified by “because” …show more content…
1). The use of “were” is significant because it is progressive past tense (l. 1). The tense is used when one is trying to recall an action that has just ended. This gives a wistful feeling to the poem as though one is recalling the past as a possibility for the present even though the past must stay in the past. The tone shifts with the word “but” located in the line, “that you were…but, love, you are” (l. 1). The speaker begins to use “are” moving the line into the present tense so that the speaker is no longer looking back to the past (l. 1). Through the tense shift, the tone becomes more judgmental as “are” by nature closes off options for what something can be by requiring that the speaker makes a judgment about what is (l. 1). In effect, the youth losses even more power and knowledge as the speaker makes both the audience and the youth wait until the second line to hear the speaker’s final judgment. This is a contrast to the speaker’s use of “that” previously. “That” is more tentative because it opens up possibilities by indicating that one option must be singled out for multiple ones (l. 1). By moving away from the multiple possibilities of “that” to the closed judgment of “are”, the speaker takes away the youths power to define the youth’s situation (l. 1). The switch also makes it appear as though the speaker believes that the youth cannot or does not understand that this past is no longer available to them. The speaker starts with addressing the wistful past before immediately switching to the defined present as though the speaker felt they need to clarify that there is no longer multiple options. In this way, the speaker puts the youth bellow them both in power and knowledge giving “O, that you were” a condescending tone where the speaker has to make a judgment call for you (l. 1). The tone then becomes hopeless as the speaker only offers the passive possibility to “prepare”
Looking at the details, Dickinson’s poem has a strong, powerful tone that signifies one is conquering and controlling a passive death. The powerful tone is highlighted in the words and syntactic structure featured in the first line two lines. Starting with “Because I could not stop for Death,” puts the speaker in a position of knowledge because they are immediately defining the situation as signified by “because” …show more content…
1). The use of “were” is significant because it is progressive past tense (l. 1). The tense is used when one is trying to recall an action that has just ended. This gives a wistful feeling to the poem as though one is recalling the past as a possibility for the present even though the past must stay in the past. The tone shifts with the word “but” located in the line, “that you were…but, love, you are” (l. 1). The speaker begins to use “are” moving the line into the present tense so that the speaker is no longer looking back to the past (l. 1). Through the tense shift, the tone becomes more judgmental as “are” by nature closes off options for what something can be by requiring that the speaker makes a judgment about what is (l. 1). In effect, the youth losses even more power and knowledge as the speaker makes both the audience and the youth wait until the second line to hear the speaker’s final judgment. This is a contrast to the speaker’s use of “that” previously. “That” is more tentative because it opens up possibilities by indicating that one option must be singled out for multiple ones (l. 1). By moving away from the multiple possibilities of “that” to the closed judgment of “are”, the speaker takes away the youths power to define the youth’s situation (l. 1). The switch also makes it appear as though the speaker believes that the youth cannot or does not understand that this past is no longer available to them. The speaker starts with addressing the wistful past before immediately switching to the defined present as though the speaker felt they need to clarify that there is no longer multiple options. In this way, the speaker puts the youth bellow them both in power and knowledge giving “O, that you were” a condescending tone where the speaker has to make a judgment call for you (l. 1). The tone then becomes hopeless as the speaker only offers the passive possibility to “prepare”