Theme Of Death In Emily Dickinson's Poetry
Death is an odd thing, humans do not know what waits for them the moment their hearts stop beating, they do not know where they’ll end up going- but death is a common topic. Whether it be in movies or writing, death has made its impression on the world; especially on poet Emily Dickinson. Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” focus on a consistent theme of death and her own curiosity on what it might be like to die herself. Dickinson’s life and use of the archetypal device have a connection to helping fuel her dreary, death revolving, poetry. Like any other human, Dickinson did not know what it was like to die, so she would place herself in the position of the dying person, or the view
…show more content…
In “Because I could not stop for Death” she writes death as a gentleman who is taking her for a ride. The first line of the poem says, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me” (1-2) Death as described as kind there, making it seem like it was almost a favor for her that he stopped and allowed her to ride with him. Or is a possibility that the speaker could not stop what they had been doing beforehand because no one truly stops for death. Death itself, however, has to stop for them instead. The word “kindly” simply makes death appear more humanized. The ride with death however is not the first ride of the speaker, towards the end of the poem, Dickinson reveals that the speaker was instead thinking back to the day they had first died. The carriage as well is an important part of the poem because while it carries death and the speaker, it also carries immortality. Again, Dickinson gives qualities to immortality that it otherwise does not possess, but the carriage known as immortality makes an ironic vehicle for the dying speaker to travel in. The personified qualities of death and immortality give the reader an easier understanding on the subject by making them a little more relatable with the idea that death is a gentlemen who escorts you, and the notion of immortality is actually the ride to the
In “Because I could not stop for Death” she writes death as a gentleman who is taking her for a ride. The first line of the poem says, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me” (1-2) Death as described as kind there, making it seem like it was almost a favor for her that he stopped and allowed her to ride with him. Or is a possibility that the speaker could not stop what they had been doing beforehand because no one truly stops for death. Death itself, however, has to stop for them instead. The word “kindly” simply makes death appear more humanized. The ride with death however is not the first ride of the speaker, towards the end of the poem, Dickinson reveals that the speaker was instead thinking back to the day they had first died. The carriage as well is an important part of the poem because while it carries death and the speaker, it also carries immortality. Again, Dickinson gives qualities to immortality that it otherwise does not possess, but the carriage known as immortality makes an ironic vehicle for the dying speaker to travel in. The personified qualities of death and immortality give the reader an easier understanding on the subject by making them a little more relatable with the idea that death is a gentlemen who escorts you, and the notion of immortality is actually the ride to the