English Literature
Emily Dickinson’s poem entitled Because I Could Not Stop for Death is a quiet, unassuming and somewhat haunting poem which relies upon personification to present the character of death as a figure with human-like qualities. The poem concerns itself with a description of the speaker’s passage to the afterlife, accompanied by death. As such, the poem has some strangely languid effects in it – the choice of language encourages the reader to perform it in quite a slow, deliberate way whilst the plot is also, effectively, a slow moving procession. Additionally, the poem has a calmness to it – like the surface of a lake on a wind-free day; other has agreed stating that it’s the poems “remarkable placidity, or composure, of its tone” that is what makes the poem so impressive (Greenberg 1). This implied serenity is immediately juxtaposed by the plot’s discussion of the speaker’s death and exit from this world – an event which the vast majority would think of with panic, fear and generally quite the opposite of calmness.
Dickinson introduces Death as a character in the first stanza – she portrays him as being polite and a gentleman:
“Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.” (1-2)
And so, immediately, the reader is pushed to see Death as being a kindly figure rather than one of fear who rips the life from your body. Dickinson has deliberately chosen to award the word ‘death’ with a capital letter and the same with the relative ‘he’ as well. In doing this, Dickinson has immediately personified the character instead of keeping him confined to being an abstract concept. In doing this, one might expect the character to be scary but instead, the mental image that is created is of an aristocratic gentleman, helping ladies in and out of carriages. The second stanza gives the reader further insight into Death and his character:
“We slowly drove, he knew no haste
And I had put away
My labour and my leisure too,
For his civility.” (5-8)
It is this stanza which sets the pace of the poem – languid, slow and gentle. This is, in effect, an allegorical presentation of a funereal march – they slowly process past the various scenes of busy life: children playing, for example. This second stanza also serves to further characterise Death by implying that he is in no rush – this suggests that he is at ease with his work and since death is for eternity, there is no hurry in getting people to the afterlife. In its way, his lack of hurrying is the most chilling aspect of this poem – Dickinson has cleverly implied the stretch of forever that is death and all the unknown elements that accompany it.
Midway through the poem, Dickinson “reverses the narrative flow of the journey” (Kreidler 1) by shifting attention to the setting sun instead:
“We passed the Setting Sun
Or rather – he passed us” (12-13)
The change here has been suggested as implying that the carriage has stopped and the speaker is at their grave, ready to be laid to rest (Kreidler 1). Again, Dickinson has used personification to characterise the sun as being a figure here – the effect of this is to demonstrate how the world carries on with its usual routine – the sun setting, passing by them in the sky, even though the speaker’s life has come to an end. Again, this is Dickinson commenting on the futility of mortality – we are all so full of our importance and designs in life, but in practice, when we pass away, the world carries on regardless. In this instance, Dickinson has personified the sun in such a way that it appears like it has walked past them. This is compounded by the reference coming after a succession of descriptions about what else they have passed. However, unable to see what is happening – or perhaps even unable to stop what is happening, the sun carries on walking past. Again, furthering the idea that death is an unstoppable force that does not need to rush.
Dickinson has cleverly utilised language throughout the poem to create a concise work which has various double meanings on words – for example, she has repeatedly used the word ‘passed’ which can mean both the coming of death or literally just walking by somebody or something. The use of the word ‘passed’ “sets up verbal irony (the tension of statement and meaning)” (Joly 2). Furthermore, Dickinson carefully refers to the sun as a metaphor for the stages of life – in this sense, the sun rising is reminiscent of birth whereas the setting sun (as it is referred to here) is symbolic of the end of life – the conclusion of a day (Joly 2). The poem’s calm style is furthered by the speaker’s peaceful acceptance of her death and far from fighting it, she goes willingly to her grave. However, as the title suggests, nobody willingly stops for death and it is he who must collect the individual.
The poem relies heavily upon metaphorical language and personification and overall, it is allegorical of both a funeral procession as well as the journey through life. It is not a happy coincidence that they pass children (metaphorical of early life), then the grain (symbolic of being in the prime of life) and then finally the setting sun (symbolic of the end of life and the end of the day). Despite dealing with theological folklore, the poem does not immediately present any defined ideas of the nature of death – Dickinson’s private understanding of such matters is more likely to be found upon studying a significant number of her works (Spencer 2). The poem does not share any religious insight but is rather more ‘matter of fact’ in its subject matter. The speaker does not seem resistant to her fate but rather comfortable with it, even when standing at the face of her open grave:
“We paused before a House that seemed
A swelling of the ground” (17-18)
There is no struggle, but rather the word ‘paused’ implies that the scene is quiet and calm. Equally, ‘swelling’ is not a violent word – its form encourages it to be pronounced in a languid manner which also lends weight to the serenity of the scene. In all, the poem sets a calm scene of acceptance which suggests the idea that the one certainty in life is that one day, we will all die. The poem’s lack of upsetting language and the speaker’s lack of panic seems allows this idea to be reiterated through metaphor, carefully chosen calm language and the gentle nature of both the deceased and Death.
References
Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” New Poetry Works: a workbook anthology. Ed. Robin Malan. South Africa: New Africa Books, 2007.
Greenberg, J.M. "Dickinson's Because I could not stop for Death." Explicator 49.4 (1991): 218. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2011.
Joly, Ralph Robert. "Because I could not stop for Death." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-2. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2011.
Kreidler, Michele L. "Emily Dickinson "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Literary Contexts in Poetry: Emily Dickinson's 'Because I Could Not Stop For Death' (2009): 1. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2011.
Spencer, Mark. "Dickinson's BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH." Explicator 65.2 (2007): 95-96. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2011.
