Horses Heads Were Toward Eternity

Death – the inevitable fate of every living person, is often a stage in the cycle of life that is often feared, avoided, or misunderstood. Often time’s literary works contain elements of death to symbolize the end or rebirth of a person or place. Death shows no bias, no prejudice or discriminatory action. Death, quite simply, is the ultimate fate. It can be argued, that without death, there is no reason to live because there is nothing to fear. In a way, the same can be said about literature, but in reverse, Louise Rosenblatt, a prominent Reader Response theorist, stated, “Text is just ink on a page until the reader comes along and gives it life.” She argued that without readers and their individual perceptions of any given text, it is just
words on a page, and it the up to the readers to conjure up feelings to associate with the text. In other words, text is dead until the reader brings it to life, so to speak. On the contrary, differing opinion can call for differing interpretations based on how the readers read the text. There are often times differing interpretations of “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson due to many predetermining factors such as education levels and preconceived ideas of death. The poem itself showcases and tackles the ideas of death, the idea that just because one doesn’t plan to die, doesn’t mean they can avoid their fate. For example, one commenter on a Wordpress blog called the poem,
The poem personifies death as a man, but not just any man: a gentleman. Dickinson revitalizes and refreshes the stale image of death from his former self. The once traditional skeletal being in an oversized black hooded garment carrying a scythe is replaced. Instead, he is gentle, responsive and understanding. He is the perfect gentleman an that one could expect to hold doors and offer his arm to any willing to grab hold.
“Because I Could Not Stop For Death” personifies Death as a man, a kind man. “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” (1-2). Dickinson describes Death as a kind man, who she suggests stopped for her. The idea of death actually stopping and picking someone up seems a bit far fetched, but Dickinson’s ability to convey a character who is normally feared as a soft, welcoming man makes the very idea of death a bit more tolerable. Interestingly enough, Death is referred to as a man.
On a City University Of New York class discussion board, one student noted “It is also interesting how death is not only personified as a person, but also as a man. I feel like that it a general stereotype but interesting nonetheless.” The student goes on to elaborate on just how referencing a male can cerate a more believable image for death. Thus, explaining that for this reason he enjoys the poem. Dickenson continues on with great detail of a journey to an eternal afterlife.
When reading the text for what it is, a different picture is painted. “We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility” (5-8). As the ride continues, the speaker is enjoying the ride; she is recalling the different stages in her life and is reminiscing on past life events. This often times is misinterpreted as the speaker who fears that the end is near. It can be inferred that the speaker is simply sitting there as Death leads her to her final resting place. Dickinson’s words are full of imagery and darkness, yet the poem still holds an airy, subtle feeling to it. She continues to detail the duration of her trip with Death.
In the final stanza of the poem it is revealed that the speaker has been dead for centuries but it feels as if it all happened yesterday.
The speaker states, “Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity,” (21-24). The speaker references horses’ heads, she is mentioning the horses that drew the carriage and lead her to her eternity. It is important to note that, at this point the poem brings upon closure and melancholy. Despite the overwhelming sadness, there is a peaceful undertone and allure to the poems structure. The topic of death is often times hard to digest; it is typically avoided and can also cause people of any age discomfort. However, in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Emily Dickinson creates a safe haven and reminds readers that it is about perception and personal interpretation. When analyzing the poem and only considering the text, there is a dark picture painted. However, when readers begin to use their own inferences, the poem is given a different tone and purpose. The poem enables readers to create their own ideas of death and
immortality.
The best poems are those that can present issues in unique ways in order to create understanding and leave a lasting impression with readers. This is exactly what this poem does. It reminds people of their ultimate fates, creates a connection that everyone will, at some point in time, relate to. The longevity and life of this piece of work is only beginning and deserves to be studied and experienced by audiences of all generations. It must serve as a constant reminder that, “text is just ink on a page until the reader comes along and gives it life.”

One Art

Poetry has often been criticized for its difficult and complex interpretations. In fact, many students find it particularly difficult to decipher and truly understand the meaning of any given poem and therefor shy away from poetry all together. However, there lies the epicenter of this consistently plaguing issue: The meaning. Two different readers can read the same poem and take away two completely different meanings. “One Art,” by Elizabeth Bishop doesn’t deserve to be placed in an Anthology because it is deceptive and often too difficult to decode using simply the text and encourages readers to look inside themselves.
The poem initially seems simple enough, people lose things and that’s all.
Many readers even confuse the very way it is written with simple, plain text. On the contrary, One Art is written in and follows the Villanelle structure. This structure is often thought of as one of the most challenging and hard to understand structures in poetry. However, to the untrained eye, the poem is casual and flows smoothly and simply. The poem often times forces readers to look within themselves to determine the meaning, therefore giving the poem the flexibility to fit everyone’s situation. Where many might think flexibility is an asset, in this case it hinders the poems full
potential.
The poem opens with, “The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster,” (1-3). The speaker creates this carefree idea on just how losing something isn’t the end of the world, so to speak. There is a whimsical and playful nature to the poem. The stanza itself represents the idea that nothing is forever, no matter how close it is held, it will not be around forever as nothing is eternal. She continues, “Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master,” (4-6). Here the text is nothing complex on the surface; it is as simple as it explains itself to be. Poems, while they can be simple, should meet a higher, academic, standard to receive the coveted place in a prestigious collection as this one.
The poem continues to discuss the loss of everyday items such as keys and time that has been wasted. The poem continues to be quite simple and rudimentary almost, lacking quality. There is a lacking of academic language and too much simple conversational talk that take away from the poem more than they add. The poem relies too heavily on the author’s intent to force readers to look within themselves and relate to the poem. Thus taking away from the pure meaning. W.K Wimsatt Jr. and C. Beardsley described this fallacy in their work, “The Intentional Fallacy.” They stated, “A poem can be only through its meaning since its medium is words yet it is, simply is, in the sense that we have no excuse for inquiring what part is intended or meant. Poetry is a feat of style by which a complex of meaning is handled all at once.” They explain that the author’s intent should serve no purpose in evaluating a poem. One Art is about this very intent and therefore is guilty of breaking the intentional fallacy rule. All things considered, this is another reason why this poem does not belong in such a prestigious book. Bishop continues on to the end of the poem with the same simple text, “Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster” (16-10). By the end of the poem the speaker reveals that, despite losing the everyday things that might not matter, losing her mother was the true disaster. After a seemingly empty prelude, the poem ends with it being about the speaker the whole time. Again, here the poem is deceitful and continues to rely on the readers’ perception and or other outside influencing factors that dilute the poems impact.
In closing, One Art fails to generate its own meaning and leaves an enormous amount of interpretation up to the reader. The poem should speak for itself and cerate a story from within without too much external influence, i.e. the readers’ own personal losses. Poetry needs to be evocative on its own and not rely on the experiences of its readers to convey its messages. To be a contender for such an honor, the poem needs to live up to the standards of every other poem entered along with it and unfortunately this one falls short.