How Because I Could Not Stop For Death Influence Emily Dickinson's Poetry

Today, poetry is still one of the most artificial or unnatural forms of literature. To fully understand the artistry of a poet’s work, one has to “study it, savor it, think about it, dream about it, and [even ask questions about it]” (Roberts et al, pg. 534). One of the four major American Poets that was the author of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “Success Is Counted Sweetest” was Emily Dickinson. “[Dickinson never did devote her true identity to her work] until her late twenties, [which was] about 1858” (Roberts et al, pg. 803). With this in mind, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” was written in 1863. Her poems were written specifically on topics such as death, dying, or state of solitude, which were invigorating to her …show more content…
She had already set up her readers with a causal transition word stating “Because” with her opening line in her poem. Now, “Death” is an unusual noun to personify, but she captivated it very well. “He kindly stopped for me”, this statement lead the reader to hint that death is being personified as a gentlemen. Dickinson personified death as a patient gentleman who was obviously at her service when she clearly couldn’t make time for him. As personification had been found in the first stanza, Dickinson also contrive the use of assonance rhyme to emphasize the ideal of individual care in which she said, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – and Immortality”. The words “held” and “Ourselves” made it that assonance sound. So, basically the speaker has given her sole attention and life over to what pertains to death or the afterlife of eternity, but who is a kind suitor in the poem. Another example in which the speaker shows she has given up her life is in stanza two when she stated, “My labor and my leisure too, For his Civility.” Not only does she set aside her life for his noble deeds, she also adds another literary device using the words “labor” and “leisure”. This is a form of alliteration, in fact she smoothly uses her devices with still creative …show more content…
However, it was not to be feared, but to be at ease with it and to know there’s something beyond darkness, which is eternity. Immortality was traveling along her the whole way. In the poem, Dickinson mentioned nature around her. In stanza three she said, “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – We passed the Setting Sun.” She has depicted images for her readers to see. With regard to her bringing up nature in this poem, Diehl discovered something interesting to Dickinson’s work. Diehl said, “Dickinson, however does seek correspondence between herself and nature, but her own consciousness must dictate the relationship; the landscape becomes an allegorical projection of her internal drama as her poems present a spectrum of reaction to the amorality of nature – from hope and exultation to despair” (pg.148). What this means is that the state that Dickinson is in resolves in the way she presents nature. Like, for instance in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” showed that the speaker is in a state of solitude even though death courted her along the way; she’s about to face stillness, but before she does she sees light and life: like, “children”, “sun”, and “grain”. However, the setting of her poem and the tone and mood she sets it in will determine the atmosphere she surrounds herself in.