A tranquil view of death presented in Because I could not stop for Death Death is a reality for everyone. Yet for many people dying is a frightening consequence of living. Images of the grim reaper with his scythe ready to steal people from the land of the living have haunted many peoples’ nightmares. In her poem Because I could not stop for death Emily Dickinson’ through the tittle, personification, and meter and rhyme presents a peaceful and somewhat idealized version of dying. To begin with, The tittle of the poem helps convey Dickinson’s view of death as a peaceful and comforting experience. The poet chose the tittle with the poem’s theme in mind. Death kindly stops for speaker in the poem, the speaker does not die a violent or sudden
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This action by death is described as “kind” (2) Another important attribute to the calmness of Because I could not stop for Death is the imagery that sets a perfect scene for a peaceful death. In the first stanza of the poem, Dickinson paints a picture of death as gentleman. “ the Carriage held but ourselves” (3) makes it seem like the speaker is going on a romantic date with her significant other, but in reality she is having death take her to the afterlife. Instead of a quick life passed before your eyes it is a slow journey. In the third stanza the speaker and death pass by two things that represent life. First off they pass a schoolyard full of children playing which represents Dickinson’s childhood, a pleasant memory. After they go past the school yard they encounter “Fields of gazing grain”(11) which refers to the adult years of life when a person becomes mature. Both of these images that are painted represent the great times in life. Then the carriage passes by things that represent the end such as a “setting sun” (12) and “dews quivering and chill”(14). The speaker is also pictured as frail; in her thin nightgown with a …show more content…
Nearly every line in the poem is written in iambic pentameter format which is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. Using iambic pentameter creates a peaceful feeling in the poem that can be sung if chosen to. Although this poem would be odd to sing, I think Dickinson uses iambic pentameter on purpose in order to get the relaxed feeling about dying across to the speaker. If the poem wasn’t this way it might create a sense of discordance and that would not portray the notion of a peaceful death. Dickinson also accomplishes the rhythm of the poem by having very subtle rhymes hidden in the poem. An example of one rhyming pair in the poem is me and immortality which is a slant rhyme. The other rhyme in the poem is Civility and eternity and together they create an eye rhyme. This keeps the flow and feel of the poem going without having fairly obvious end rhymes that will make it come to a stop after ever two lines. The dashes in the poem at the end of almost every line also help in continuing the poem along by grouping the poem into sentences. The lack of rhyming in the poem also works with the Iambic pentameter to create a better sing song feel .This is better than the poem having discordance in it because it supports the positive portrayal of death while if it was discordant in places it would contradict the meaning of the
This action by death is described as “kind” (2) Another important attribute to the calmness of Because I could not stop for Death is the imagery that sets a perfect scene for a peaceful death. In the first stanza of the poem, Dickinson paints a picture of death as gentleman. “ the Carriage held but ourselves” (3) makes it seem like the speaker is going on a romantic date with her significant other, but in reality she is having death take her to the afterlife. Instead of a quick life passed before your eyes it is a slow journey. In the third stanza the speaker and death pass by two things that represent life. First off they pass a schoolyard full of children playing which represents Dickinson’s childhood, a pleasant memory. After they go past the school yard they encounter “Fields of gazing grain”(11) which refers to the adult years of life when a person becomes mature. Both of these images that are painted represent the great times in life. Then the carriage passes by things that represent the end such as a “setting sun” (12) and “dews quivering and chill”(14). The speaker is also pictured as frail; in her thin nightgown with a …show more content…
Nearly every line in the poem is written in iambic pentameter format which is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. Using iambic pentameter creates a peaceful feeling in the poem that can be sung if chosen to. Although this poem would be odd to sing, I think Dickinson uses iambic pentameter on purpose in order to get the relaxed feeling about dying across to the speaker. If the poem wasn’t this way it might create a sense of discordance and that would not portray the notion of a peaceful death. Dickinson also accomplishes the rhythm of the poem by having very subtle rhymes hidden in the poem. An example of one rhyming pair in the poem is me and immortality which is a slant rhyme. The other rhyme in the poem is Civility and eternity and together they create an eye rhyme. This keeps the flow and feel of the poem going without having fairly obvious end rhymes that will make it come to a stop after ever two lines. The dashes in the poem at the end of almost every line also help in continuing the poem along by grouping the poem into sentences. The lack of rhyming in the poem also works with the Iambic pentameter to create a better sing song feel .This is better than the poem having discordance in it because it supports the positive portrayal of death while if it was discordant in places it would contradict the meaning of the