Emily Dickinson was one of the more known poets throughout the transcendental movement. Her work was filled with irony, like many of the other writers. “Because I could not stop for death” contains Dickinson's examination of death, which is one of the most important themes in all of her poems. In it, Dickinson speaks personally about death, yet doesn’t portray the existence of an afterlife.
Because I could not stop for death
He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just Ourselves
And immortality.
In this first stanza of “Because I could not stop for death”, her tone is sorrowful, but calm. She peacefully accepts death and it’s experience. Dickinson uses the metaphor of the carriage ride, where she makes Death, her guide, sound kind
Because I could not stop for death
He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just Ourselves
And immortality.
In this first stanza of “Because I could not stop for death”, her tone is sorrowful, but calm. She peacefully accepts death and it’s experience. Dickinson uses the metaphor of the carriage ride, where she makes Death, her guide, sound kind