Dickinson struggled with religion and experienced tremendous loss during her life and that's reflected in her poems. “Almost a year to the day after her husband's death in 1874, Mrs. Dickinson had a stroke that left her paralyzed. For the next seven years, until her death on November 14, 1882” (Emily Norcross). According to Biography.com, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia cared for their ill mother until she passed away (Biography.com). As a result, the deaths of Dickinson's father and mother may have precipitated her approach to writing “Because I could not stop for Death”. At the same time, religion played a large part in Dickinson's life. Until 1868, Dickinson attended church regularly. However, around her late thirties, she stopped attending
…show more content…
She and Death travel past “...the School / where Children strove” (9). The children represent energy and life to come in the future at the same time the speaker is ironically inactive while in the carriage. As they pass the “Fields of Gazing Grain” (11) the speaker is reminded of parts of life, the cultivation by the farmers, and civilization. Finally, she and Death pass “the Setting Sun” (12). The setting sun indicates the end of the day and is a metaphor for the end of the speaker’s life and that death is just another part of life. As a result, Dickinson uses anaphora in this stanza with the repeated use of the words “We passed” …show more content…
Death now becomes real to her. She is not dressed appropriately wearing a gossamer gown and a thin silk shawl or her “Tippet” (16) is “only Tulle” (16). Dickinson gives the reader an impression of love or romance while riding with Death. Dickinson's selection of a Gossamer Gown could almost be interpreted as a wedding gown since Dickinson herself never married. The cold the speaker is feeling can be interpreted as the warmth of the living world, leaving her the further she travels with Death. In the fifth stanza, she and Death make a second stop at a “House” (15). However, it is not a house. Dickinson has cleverly used metaphor to indicate the speaker's entombment. The words “Swelling of the Ground” (18) and use of the word “Cornice” (20) lets the reader know this is the speaker’s grave. The acceptance and permanence of the speaker's death have now become tangible to
She and Death travel past “...the School / where Children strove” (9). The children represent energy and life to come in the future at the same time the speaker is ironically inactive while in the carriage. As they pass the “Fields of Gazing Grain” (11) the speaker is reminded of parts of life, the cultivation by the farmers, and civilization. Finally, she and Death pass “the Setting Sun” (12). The setting sun indicates the end of the day and is a metaphor for the end of the speaker’s life and that death is just another part of life. As a result, Dickinson uses anaphora in this stanza with the repeated use of the words “We passed” …show more content…
Death now becomes real to her. She is not dressed appropriately wearing a gossamer gown and a thin silk shawl or her “Tippet” (16) is “only Tulle” (16). Dickinson gives the reader an impression of love or romance while riding with Death. Dickinson's selection of a Gossamer Gown could almost be interpreted as a wedding gown since Dickinson herself never married. The cold the speaker is feeling can be interpreted as the warmth of the living world, leaving her the further she travels with Death. In the fifth stanza, she and Death make a second stop at a “House” (15). However, it is not a house. Dickinson has cleverly used metaphor to indicate the speaker's entombment. The words “Swelling of the Ground” (18) and use of the word “Cornice” (20) lets the reader know this is the speaker’s grave. The acceptance and permanence of the speaker's death have now become tangible to