Because I Could Not Stop For Death Poem Analysis

Poetry assembles literary devices and figurative language in a sophisticated manner to aesthetically portray ideas and explore a central theme with an artistic edge. Emily Dickinson’s 1863 poem Because I could not stop for Death conveys the idea of succumbing to mortality without putting up an act of defiance; Death is just a purveyor of eternal rest and quietude. Dickinson also illustrates that everyone must transcend mortality and head “towards eternity" at one point as death is inevitable for all humans, and reluctance is unnecessary. Dylan Thomas’ 1951 poem Do not go gentle into that good night is based on a man desperately pleading his dying father to “rage against” death with open resistance. The poem laments the necessity and inevitability …show more content…
In Because I could not stop for Death, Death and Immortality are personified as a gentleman suitor and a chaperon respectively as they are symbolic to the beginning of a new life after death. Immortality travelling in the carriage of Death is significant as it symbolises living forever spiritually because once immortality is attained, death has no mastery over an individual. “The Carriage” represents the speaker’s death chariot and the ride with death symbolises the speaker’s funeral procession which usually moves very slowly as Death knows “no haste”. During the ride, the speaker experiences a chill because she is not warmly dressed. “Only Gossamer, my Gown - / My Tippet – only Tulle” displays that her garments are more appropriate for a wedding, representing a new beginning, than for a funeral, representing an end. Dickinson illustrates that death does not lead to mortality but an eternal afterlife and a new beginning. Instead of illustrating Death conventionally with a scythe and a grimace, Dickinson portrays him as a courteous and compassionate gentleman with great “civility”. This accentuates the idea that death is only a normal part of life that does not require hesitation or reluctance. While Death and the speaker are riding “towards eternity”, the sun sets down which signifies the end of the day …show more content…
The narrator puts away all her “labour and leisure” for Death in Dickinson’s poem which is an extended metaphor for willingly submitting her life. Life consists of both struggles and enjoyment which are synonymous to labour and leisure. “And I put away / My labour and my leisure too, For His Civility” shows that the narrator calmly accepts death without defiance. Dickinson also uses the analogy of comparing the stages of life to the different scenes viewed during the ride with Death. “We passed the School, where Children strove / At Recess – in the Ring” demonstrates that the narrator is reminiscing the childhood stage of life which is full of innocence and leisure. “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain” represents productiveness and the labour of adulthood. Capital letters for “Gazing Grain” are used because the stalks of grain are personified as people staring at the funeral procession. “We passed the Setting Sun” shows that the speaker is passing away from this world as the sun is now setting down and life is coming to an end. By comparing the stages of life to the scenes observed during the ride makes the carriage appear like life that is going past all the different stages experienced in a lifetime. In Do not go gentle into that good night, Thomas also incorporates analogies in a similar way to communicate his