In this case, explication is insinuated about in the title; “because I could not stop death” meaning that it seeks to respond to a given situation. The poem is an elaborative process that among other things questions the “speaker’s contentment to die? Is this poem about the fears that author could not face, for instance the fear or marriage. According to Maher personal fears have caused people to write very convincing and bizarre literary pieces (19).
Explication serves the function of explaining the mysterious circumstances under which human beings find themselves. The creation of a mysterious scene as the one playing about in the poem by Dickinson envisages the mysteriousness of death. The first stanza, “because I could not stop for death- He kindly stopped me” (online-literature.com). The second scenario explains what happen in case death-the well recognized ‘stopper’ of all living things fails to stop the speaker.
The conclusion reached as a result of the multiplicity of the evidence elaborates on the useful place that explication has in explaining natural mysteries. The line-by-line commentary in the poem generates a story on what happens next. Capner states that in explaining natural mysteries such as death, people put the issue in a manner to represent continuity (24). This makes the scenario less doomed and restores hope in say life after death.
Explication helps people deal with the ethical concerns that are associated with the issue in question. According to Harris, the new explicit knowledge should not always be considered an improvement in language but also an improvement in terms of a poem’s deeper meanings (Bonolio, 12). Moreover, where judgements collide, the statements following an “improper” statement are usually followed by statements laden with reconciliatory tone and content that is seen to uphold ethics.
Explication also widens the scope of literary piece. The line-by-line commentary may seem very innocuous but the overall process offers new meanings and insights. It is these insights that enrich debate around a literary piece. This could help in shedding more light to the major mysterious issues such as death that are raised in a given poem.
The ending of this poem evokes the flashback ricks that are used in movies. The author seems to posit that he is dead and what seems to be happening now, actually happened centuries ago. To ensure that the literary piece prevents drastic and unfounded conclusions by the readers, explication prevents people from thinking out of context and exacerbating an already delicate issue concerning mystery.
Works Cited
"Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson." The Literature Network: Online classic literature, poems, and quotes. Essays & Summaries. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.
Bonolio, George. "Kant’s Explication and Carnap’s Explication: The Redde Rationem", International Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 43, No. 3, Issue 171, pp. 289–298. 2003. print
Carnap, Richarrds, Logical foundations of probability, University of Chicago Press, Illinois. 1950. Print.
Harrison, Strauss, "Explication without words - A composer's view", Organisations and People, August, Vol.13 (3), pp. 59–63. ISSN 1350-6269. 2006. Print
Maher, Patrick,. Explication defended", Studia Logica, Volume 86, Number 2, July 2007, pp. 331–341. 2007. Print
