Because I could not stop for Death (Emily Dickinson)

BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH 

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste, 

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove

At recess, in the ring;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;

The dews grew quivering and chill,

For only gossamer my gown,

My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses' heads

Were toward eternity.

Having read all the poems provided, I’ve chosen “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson because the fact that death is the main theme of this poem caught my interest.  In my opinion its protagonist must be a woman for the words she chooses to describe how she is dying.  To be honest, I couldn’t help feeling identified with her.  The first stanza clearly states that she seemed to be “busy” to realize that she was about to die. She must have been so immersed in her duties that she couldn’t even stop for death. In this trip, she is the only person travelling with Death. This idea is emphasized throughout the poem by  interchanging the first person singular and plural. Dickinson uses the third person singular just once to introduce Death.

 The fact that death is personified as a man also called my attention.  Generally, the writers who portray death as a human being tend to depict it as an evil woman who outrageously takes people’s lives.  In this poem, Death is pictured differently. He is not described as a frightening man, but as a kind one who took the time to do what the victim couldn’t.  

In the second stanza, she regrets leaving her labor and leisure but not people. Dickinson describes the trip in which the speaker is embarked on as a pleasant one. Although she knows that she has died, she’s neither terrified nor worried. On the contrary, she seems to go through this new experience in a relaxed mood.

In the third stanza, the world the speaker is passing from is described. In the following stanza, she corrects herself by stating “or rather –he passed us”. It’s now when she realizes that she is no longer a human being, but a soul travelling to the great beyond. In this stanza Death is shown in a more conventional form. The protagonist faces the coldness that is said to be experienced when dying. However, she knows that this part of death leads her to eternity, the ultimate goal.

This poem can be related with some of the works we dealt with in class. In The Lagoon, the Turn of the Screw and To the Lighthouse, death is one of the main themes.

In the post I’ve prepared, I’ve included pictures connected to death. The colours that prevail are black and white, except for the shadow around the two phrases, which represent the light that is said to be seen once we’re dead.  I’ve chosen a young woman as the speaker of the poem because, while reading it, I imagined her as a lady in his early thirties.  There are two pictures depicting what eternity represents and in the central image Death is portrayed. There are two phrases: the first line of the poem and one which reflects how many people conceive death. I also included a video with the poem read and the story performed. The background music is ideal because it shows the feeling of peacefulness the speaker is experiencing. As regards the wall chosen, I wanted to highlight how Death must have stopped the young woman's life.