The Inevitable Oblivion
Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night, and a new road”. Death and the afterlife has stirred the human imagination for thousands of years. The oblivion, or the unknown of death also strikes fear in the human race. I am not the most faithful and religious person, but I would like to believe there is a heaven, and that the things you do on Earth count for something. If there is nothing after death, than what is the reason for living? I guess that is also the way I have been raised- heaven and hell, do good and don’t sin on Earth and you’ll survive after death (immortality). I like to think Mother Teresa and Jeffrey Dahmer went different places after death. Your soul can’t just black out and nothing happens right? Poets and writers would take on this subject because they could write their own thoughts on death, in their own words. Many American poets have different views on death and the afterlife. In the nineteenth century, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Kate Chopin were celebrated as some of the most influential and successful poets in this period. Walt Whitman’s 1865 poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” demonstrates his …show more content…
Is death a standstill in life, horse-drawn carriages and meadows, a solution to unsolvable problems, or still a mystery ? These three American writers are very unique in their views, especially on death. In Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” honors President Lincoln’s death. “Désireé’s Baby” by Kate Chopin made death seem like a solution to not fitting society’s “status quo” and turning to mortality. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is very different from Whitman’s and Chopin’s outlooks on death and immortality. “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” made death seem tranquil, using death in place of a date or friend. What will happen after you die? Heaven, Hell, century-long carriage ride, or mysterious darkness for
Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night, and a new road”. Death and the afterlife has stirred the human imagination for thousands of years. The oblivion, or the unknown of death also strikes fear in the human race. I am not the most faithful and religious person, but I would like to believe there is a heaven, and that the things you do on Earth count for something. If there is nothing after death, than what is the reason for living? I guess that is also the way I have been raised- heaven and hell, do good and don’t sin on Earth and you’ll survive after death (immortality). I like to think Mother Teresa and Jeffrey Dahmer went different places after death. Your soul can’t just black out and nothing happens right? Poets and writers would take on this subject because they could write their own thoughts on death, in their own words. Many American poets have different views on death and the afterlife. In the nineteenth century, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Kate Chopin were celebrated as some of the most influential and successful poets in this period. Walt Whitman’s 1865 poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” demonstrates his …show more content…
Is death a standstill in life, horse-drawn carriages and meadows, a solution to unsolvable problems, or still a mystery ? These three American writers are very unique in their views, especially on death. In Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” honors President Lincoln’s death. “Désireé’s Baby” by Kate Chopin made death seem like a solution to not fitting society’s “status quo” and turning to mortality. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is very different from Whitman’s and Chopin’s outlooks on death and immortality. “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” made death seem tranquil, using death in place of a date or friend. What will happen after you die? Heaven, Hell, century-long carriage ride, or mysterious darkness for