(Dickinson 1-4)
Death, not an ominous figure but a gentle one, is personified as a man in Emily Dickinson's poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” A courteous figure, he stops his carriage for the narrator, and offers the narrator a ride with him and ‘immortality” (Dickinson 4). “We slowly drove – He knew no haste” (Dickinson 5). Death is now personified as “knowing no haste” and a kind companion for the narrator. “And I had put away/My labor and my leisure too,/For His Civility –” (Dickinson 6-8). Moreover, Death is illustrated as a polite character, and alludes courtesy.
We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground – The Roof was scarcely visible – The Cornice – in the Ground – (Dickinson 17-20)
Finally, the considerate and gentlemanly Death brings the narrator ‘home,’ or rather, the narrator dies. Personifying death as a man was done exceptionally well by Dickinson. Uniquely, she portrays death as a benevolent philanthropic, contrary to the wonted illustration of death as a menacing evil. Fear of death is not provoked in the narrator nor the reader, as the reader is warm towards death. Furthermore, the personification of death as a man adds depth to the poem and raises questions if Dickinson herself was as welcoming of death as the narrator