James Lin
So after reading a few poems written by Emily Dickinson, it seems to me that this poet is infatuated with writing about death. It sounded a little creepy to me at first but if you really narrow down the lines one by one, she actually makes death seem realistic and gentle. I chose the first poem “Because I could not stop for death” because she makes it seem like death is taking its sweet time gently making sure the dead individual rests in peace. Instead of making death seem scary, she personifies death almost like a human being taking the dead person out for a drive on a sunny day. I realized this after reading the poem a couple times and the opening stanza makes it seem like the speaker was too busy for death. “Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me”. This made me think that the speaker is trying to tell us that death will always be waiting for you when you’re not busy anymore in the real world. To me, the speaker is saying that everyone is going to meet death one day. It’s a matter of time and when you do, its when you’re retired after working all your life and then when you’re on the verge of dying, that is when you are finally not busy and you spend time meeting death as death slowly takes care of you.
“We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –”
The second stanza is saying that because death is spending time with her on the ride to the grave, she had to put away the things that kept her busy in her every day activities so that they can enjoy the “nice drive out on a sunny day” without being in a rush.
“We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –”
I think the third stanza is during their carriage ride to the grave, death wants to remind her of the world she is passing away from, the every day activities that kept everyone so busy. I think death wanted the speaker to appreciate the life she has lived and it’s time to say goodbye.
“Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –”
The fourth stanza changes her view of the world because the speaker is no longer going to be an active person that keeps busy with every day activities. Instead, this stanza is showing the speaker what her life will be like once she is dead. Very plain, cold, and dull. You can tell that the second stanza seemed a lot more lively and beautiful as opposed to the third stanza where they talk about the fields (dew drew quivering and chill) and I wasn’t too sure about the last line, “My Tippet – only Tulle” but it sounded more depressing than happy pretty views.
“We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – ’tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –”
And as you know, the last two stanzas are about her arriving at her grave. It describes her new house that she will be living in for centuries but because death is right beside her in this new life, she will rest in peace.
All in all, I found this poem very interesting because Emily Dickinson personified death as opposed to just talking about it, which makes it seem more depressing. But because she personified death, she made it seem like death isn’t as scary because death has been by your side all along, the day you have time for death is when you are no longer busy in the real world (aged).
James,
I definitely agree with what you’re saying about Death being personified into a person, rather than it remaining an act or something that just happens. In the poem, it almost seems as if Dickinson is seeing an old friend—someone she feels comfortable with and has already accepted. She doesn’t show any signs of being shocked or even mournful to see him. Additionally, I like how you separated the stanzas in order to give a more magnified analysis of each one—Dickinson uses each stanza to describe a different stage in her journey (life), only to eventually arrive at her grave.
I also agree with what your saying about Death being personified as not only a person, but also a gentleman. In the line where she says that he kindly stopped for her because she was too busy to stop for him. 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. Finally, i believe that the stages of life are not only described per stanza, but more so in the second stanza. The three stages of life are being personified by the children playing in the ring, which would signify childhood, “fields of grazing grain”-meaning adult life and working, and finally the setting sun which would be a clear indicator of death. So I would assume that as death is taking her for this carriage ride, she reflects back on her entire life.
I also agree with the points you made of Emily Dickinson poem on your blog post. I also did my blog post on the poem myself I noticed many similar component we have addressed in our respective post. One thing I have also noticed about Dickinson poems is that all of her poems talked about death and immortality. I also analyzed the “Because I could not stop for death” poem. In the poem I agreed she made Death into a human, but my clue was that the word “death” was capitalized, which is only used when you refer to a special noun. I got the point that death was a gentle man that was guiding the speaker to her grave. One thing you pointed out that I failed to notice was that the poem started light but then became dark half way.
I also wanted to add another interesting observation I had. Even though the story is supposed to be a dark story because it is talking about death. Dickinson actually make death a comic event. This is a contradiction because stereotypically, one see death as death and tragic. It is the end one’s life. The personification she used throughout the poem proved otherwise as to why she supports this idea. As you noticed death was compared to the sun. When the sun sets, it gets dark. This does not mean it’s the end because the sun rises again.
I must say I agree with many of your points especially your interest in the opening lines of the poem “Because I could not stop for death he kindly stopped for me”. As you pointed out she does personify death, which I think is very effective for this poem. What interests me however is that she is giving life to death but death is essentially the taking away of life so I was quite captivated by this. I was also baffled by her word choice- describing death as “kindly stopping” – most of us wouldn’t think of someone taking away our life as kind. This can be interpreted in so many ways such as the naturalness of death, the union of her body and the earth or just simply the end to the suffering in life therefore I must also disagree with you in that she is not simply infatuated with writing about death because I think this poem means so much more.
I also thought your interpretation of the 3rd stanza was really interesting since you saw it as “death reminding her of the world she is passing”. I didn’t really view it that way but I think the idea of them passing and physically driving away from life as if death is an actual destination was an interesting concept. I thought of the children and grazing grain and setting sun as more metaphoric symbols of stages in her life – childhood, growth stage and the end of her life but I think both ideas and how differently parts of this poem can be interpreted makes in better.
-Tasmina Sharmi