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Emily Dickinson – Because I could not stop for death – Summary & Analysis
Emily Dickinson one of the foremost women poets in American literature, she wrote more
than 1800 poems during her lifetime and many are being found increasing the count often.
Her poems are honest, penetrative and psychologically precise with a great deal of
adventure in every single piece. Unfortunately, only a handful of her poems are published
and it is the posthumous anthologies that made her famous as a poet. In the poem –
Because I could not stop for death – Di ki so deals ith the afterlife a d the speaker’s
travel with the personification of death. The poem is written in six stanzas and in the form
of a lyric dealing with the theme of death.
Because I could not stop for Death – Summary of the poem
The speaker in the poem is too busy to approach death; therefore, death comes in the form
of a gentleman to pick her up on a chariot. The carriage included no other and the speaker
travelled with death alone. The civility of death is praised as he drives the chariot with a
relaxed and steady pace which provides ease to the poet.
The chariot crosses a town where children are seen playing and there are fields with full of
grain. They witness the serenity of the setting sun. But, as the sun sets the speaker feels the
chill of the night and believes that she is not properly dressed for the occasion (date with
death).
They halt before a house that appears to be a small mound emerging from the ground (the
grave of the speaker). She could not clearly see the roof of the house and the cornice was
othi g ut the ou d of earth. The speaker realizes that it’s ee e turies si e he death
and it feels to her like yesterday that she was eternally taken by death.
Because I could not stop for Death – Analysis of the poem
Stanza-1: The speaker represents the human race when she declares that she is too busy to
think about death. It has become our primordial instinct to survive through all the
difficulties posed by the community. But death never forgets and comes after those whose
time in this realm is over. To the speaker Death is kind and it offers a chariot to take her
away. There is a lot of perple it a out the i lusio of I ortalit i the last li e of the
stanza (as the speaker says that the chariot has Death, her and Immortality). The reason for
the inclusion of the word can be only understood from the meaning of the last stanza.
Stanza-2: The speaker considers Death as wooer who shows civility in his manners. She
expresses pleasantness about the steady handling of the chariot by Death. In response, she
forgets all her labour and leisure to enjoy the ride. This description of the chariot ride can be
interpreted as a smooth passing of the soul after death and the person has left the world
without having to struggle too much nor with pain.
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Stanza-3: The third stanza in the poem – Because I could not stop for Death – through three
various descriptions gives a complete cycle of life. The chariot passes children playing
joyfully indicating the innocent childhood, the grazing grain attaining fruitfulness indicating
manhood and the setting sun dawning light indicating the old age where one waits for the
darkness to take over.
Stanza-4: The speaker shows uncertainty about the passing of the sun as she feels that they
did ’t pass o er, ut it as the “u ho rossed the . This gli pses that the speaker is
resting somewhere and it is her soul travelling in the chariot. The realization slowly creeps
into the speaker as she feels the chill and understands the way she dresses, which is
inappropriate for a pleasant chariot ride and feels as if it is an abrupt gesture (from Death).
Stanza-5: The chariot pauses at her gra e, hi h she alls as her house a d it is othi g
ut a s elli g o the grou d. It is i deed o house ut the speaker’s gra e here she rests
and watches the world eternally. The journey of the speaker after witnessing different
marvels of the world pauses at the grave and goes on, indicating that there is an after-life
for her (human race) and she must continue her journey. The grave is only the resting place.
Stanza-6: The first li e of the last sta za i Be ause I ould ot stop for Death re eals that
it has been centuries since the death of the speaker. Although, it was so many years ago she
feels the memory as fresh and it feels as if it happened on that very day. She believes that it
is the da she died he the horses’ of the hariot were pointing her towards eternity. It is
the reaso for the i lusio of I ortalit i the first sta za, as death though appears to
be a gentleman apprehends the soul for eternity and one has to journey through without
any respite.
The poem – Because I could not stop for Death – deals with heavy subjects such as death,
time and eternity. But Emily Dickinson deals with them in a simple manner so that the idea
or intention of the poem is clearly visible to the reader. One can comprehend infinite
meanings on the poem and this is one of the crowning pieces of Dickinson; because of the
way Death is personified as a gentleman and how the true nature of death causes a
realization in the speaker about the eternity of being in a grave.
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Emily Dickinson – Because I could not stop for death – Summary & Analysis

Because I could not stop for Death – Summary of the poem

Because I could not stop for Death – Analysis of the poem

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