Death and Emily Dickinson – A Neutral View

Death and Emily Dickinson – A Neutral View

Emily Dickinson’s poem entitled, “Because I could not stop for Death” showcases the poignant and “understanding” relationship that the speaker has with Death. Here, death is personified as a guide to the speaker’s journey from life to the afterlife as the speaker is reflecting from beyond the grave. The relationship can be characterized as “civil” where the speaker realized that it was the right time to come to terms with the end of the physical life, and “Death” graciously enabled the speaker to come to this realization. The tone of the poem is “neutral” as the speaker was readily accepting the fate that Death has decided.

Death is not perceived as frightening or even intimidating, but rather a courteous and gentle guide, leading the speaker to eternity. The speaker feels no fear or anxiety when Death picks her up in his carriage. The speaker sees it as an act of kindness, as she was too busy to find time for him.  We witness the gentleman Death in “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –.” (1-2). She portrays death as receiving individual attention—as emphasized in the first stanza that the carriage holds just the two of them, illustrated in “held” and “ourselves”, which leads the speaker to humbly give up the life and what it contained. This is also explicitly stated in “For His Civility” (8) as the decision is made to put aside the “labor” and “leisure,” which Dickinson symbolizes as the speaker’s “life”.

The setting sun is a definite period of our daily life that draws an end to the daylight. But it shows us such a pleasant view that we ignore the death of a day; therefore, we remain neutral to the true meaning. Each day we observe the sunset while the sun waves us goodbye to give life to a night. The speaker mentions “We passed the Setting Sun – / Or rather – He passed us –“(12-13), and we witness that the speaker has the same feeling that we have for “Setting Sun”. This leads us to think while the life is ending here, there is a new life waiting on the other side.

Although the speaker’s tone is sparingly neutral throughout the entire poem, there are momentary, sudden reactions of death because the speaker encountered it so quickly. After this moment of seeing the coldness of her death, the horse carriage pauses at her new “House.” The mention of the house, “A Swelling of the Ground“(18), makes it clear that this is no cottage, but instead a grave. Although they only “pause” at this house, because it is presumably her home, it is really only a resting place and a symbol of her last physical departure to the spiritual world as she travels to eternity. The final stanza highlights the notion of this immortality where the speaker says that although it has been centuries since she has died, it feels no longer than a day because it is signified as the most memorable moment of the speaker’s life. It is not just any day that she compares it to, however, it is the very day of her death, when she saw “the Horses’ Heads” (23) that were pulling her towards this eternity. The speaker is experiencing momentary, reflexes as a result of death-but the encompassing tone that prevails in all of the stanzas ultimately end up being neutral because the speaker understands and openly accepts Death’s offer.

We can observe this offer of the Death when the speaker illustrates the context of her relationship with Death in the beginning of the poem and introduces immortality (4). Although, immorality was indirectly mentioned as a goal hinted at in the first stanza, where “Immortality” is the only other occupant of the carriage, however, it is in the final stanza that we begin to see that the speaker has fully encountered it. Towards the end of the speaker’s journey, time suddenly loses its meaning and hundreds of years feel no different than a day as indicated in “Since then-‘tis Centuries- and yet— / Feels shorter than the Day.” (21-22) Because time has ceased to be relevant to the speaker, she can still feel the moment of realization, that death was not just death, but immortality, as she mentions “surmised the Horses’ Heads/ Were toward Eternity –.” (23-24) Immortality became a desired goal, for that is what made death more acceptable and pleasurable. By ending with “Eternity –,” the poem itself enacts this eternity, en route to infinite. The last stanza explains that Death introduces the speaker to immortality and that is in a sense where the speaker’s relationship with death comes to an end.

The poem beautifully reflects on human instincts and emotional reactions to a notion that mankind has no control over. When the speaker comes to the realization that death is inevitable, she accepts the opportunity with wide, open arms. She builds on positively tailoring her relationship with Death and looks at it under a much more positive light, which is against the standard norm of how people usually deal with death. The neutral tone of the poem towards a conventional idea while dealing with it in an unconventional way sends an enlightening message to readers.

Work Cited:

Dickinson, Emily. “Because I could not stop for Death.”

March 18, 2013