Emily Dickinson: “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Literary Analysis Death. When most people hear that they do not ever associate it with sun sets and seeing children in the playground. Death is usually personified, by many poets, as a Grim Reaper who cuts away peoples lives, like a reaper who cuts his crops to harvest. Death has even been portrayed as a smooth gentleman about to inflict pain in the person. Thus, most people are afraid of Death, but not Emily Dickinson (“Because”). She personifies death in her poem differently then most. In Emily Elizabeth Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she uses imagery and symbolism to convey her representation of death. Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on the tenth of December in 1830, and lived there her entire life. Her father served as the legislator in Amherst and her grandfather was the Amherst Academy, now the Amherst College, founder (“Because”). Dickinson had two siblings: Lavinia Norcross and William Austin. Dickinson studied at the Amherst Academy, but dropped out as a teenager. It is said that she rarely went to school because of her emotional and
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She rarely left her house and not many people ever visited her. She spent most of her time with her family, and by the 1860s, she ended up living in almost full isolation (“Because”). As she isolated herself from the world, she began to write. Dickinson began writing as a teenager. Her depression and isolation worsened as her father died unexpectedly in 1874 and her mother became invalid from suffering a stroke (“Because”). Her mother died soon after suffering her stroke. Many critics claim that this was when Dickinson's writing became more and more emotional and deep. She began to write more and put all her emotions that she kept inside out in her paper as she wrote. Dickinson ended up writing hundreds of poems and letters through this time of suffering and depression
She rarely left her house and not many people ever visited her. She spent most of her time with her family, and by the 1860s, she ended up living in almost full isolation (“Because”). As she isolated herself from the world, she began to write. Dickinson began writing as a teenager. Her depression and isolation worsened as her father died unexpectedly in 1874 and her mother became invalid from suffering a stroke (“Because”). Her mother died soon after suffering her stroke. Many critics claim that this was when Dickinson's writing became more and more emotional and deep. She began to write more and put all her emotions that she kept inside out in her paper as she wrote. Dickinson ended up writing hundreds of poems and letters through this time of suffering and depression