Because I could not stop death by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson is one of the finest poets of the 19th century. She was something of a recluse, perhaps because of the problems that she had with her vision. Emily wrote for herself and her poems were a medium of expressing her inner most thoughts and feelings. Her poems were publicized only after she passed away in 1886. And it was only in the 1950s that her ‘Complete Poems’ a three volume edition were published. She was highly regarded by her contemporaries for her unique lucid style of writing. Even today, her poems are read widely by audiences.
In her poem, ‘Because I could not stop death’ Dickinson personifies death as a courteous suitor who arrives at her doorstep in a carriage. The first line of the poem reflects how unexpected death can be and also the lack of control or power that people have over it. Death as she sees it ‘stopped for me’ (2) indicates that she may have been ill for a while before the start of her last journey. She refers to ‘immortality’ (4) and shows her belief in the after life and the fact that some part of her will always live on. Her use of verbs such as ‘stopped’ and ‘drove’ and adjectives like ‘kindly’ and ‘no haste’, add to the imagery of the poem and help the reader visualize the image and journey she portrays.
The second stanza of the poem Dickinson describes the process of dying ‘slowly’ and having to put away her labor and leisure and accept the journey that she had set off on. She describes Death as a beau who is civil. There is no better time for retrospection as when faced by death and this is also what she goes on to talk about.
They drive past a school, which is symbolic of childhood, where children strove to play in a ring. This is perhaps the phase of life that is most carefree and fun and yet children strive to play. Her mention of the ‘ring’ may be related to the popular game of ‘ring-a ring-roses’. It may also describe the living to be within the ‘ring’ of life, while she isn’t.
Thereafter the carriage bearing Death and Dickinson drives past fields of grazing grain (11). This is symbolic of the working years of life when people toil to make a living and a life. ‘We passed the setting sun’ brings her to the end of the day, which is also the end of her journey of life.
‘Or rather, he passed us;’ (13) is once again a reflection of the fact that she and people in general have no control over their death and end of life. That she is unprepared for death is described in the chill she feels as the warmth of life and the day comes to an end. She describes herself dressed in ‘gossamer’ and tulle tippet befitting a bride who is about to start a new journey and at the brink of a new beginning. Once again the reader is reminded of Dickinson’s belief in the after life.
The fifth stanza describes them stopping before a grave, perhaps her own. Now, the movement, activity and her journey through life that she describes in the previous stanzas stops, and she describes only the house, ‘the cornice but a mound’ (20).
Whilst the earlier stanzas use concrete terms of description in the last stanza she is more abstract and leaves the reader with several unanswered questions. She feels that it has been centuries since she died. And because she is joyous in her after life and so it feels like it has not even been a day. At this point she speaks of how she had first concluded that the horses of Death’s carriage were headed for eternity. Dickinson changes her tense from the past to the present and leaves the reader wondering if her journey to eternity has an end.
In her poem, ‘Because I could not stop death’ Dickinson personifies death as a courteous suitor who arrives at her doorstep in a carriage. The first line of the poem reflects how unexpected death can be and also the lack of control or power that people have over it. Death as she sees it ‘stopped for me’ (2) indicates that she may have been ill for a while before the start of her last journey. She refers to ‘immortality’ (4) and shows her belief in the after life and the fact that some part of her will always live on. Her use of verbs such as ‘stopped’ and ‘drove’ and adjectives like ‘kindly’ and ‘no haste’, add to the imagery of the poem and help the reader visualize the image and journey she portrays.
The second stanza of the poem Dickinson describes the process of dying ‘slowly’ and having to put away her labor and leisure and accept the journey that she had set off on. She describes Death as a beau who is civil. There is no better time for retrospection as when faced by death and this is also what she goes on to talk about.
They drive past a school, which is symbolic of childhood, where children strove to play in a ring. This is perhaps the phase of life that is most carefree and fun and yet children strive to play. Her mention of the ‘ring’ may be related to the popular game of ‘ring-a ring-roses’. It may also describe the living to be within the ‘ring’ of life, while she isn’t.
Thereafter the carriage bearing Death and Dickinson drives past fields of grazing grain (11). This is symbolic of the working years of life when people toil to make a living and a life. ‘We passed the setting sun’ brings her to the end of the day, which is also the end of her journey of life.
‘Or rather, he passed us;’ (13) is once again a reflection of the fact that she and people in general have no control over their death and end of life. That she is unprepared for death is described in the chill she feels as the warmth of life and the day comes to an end. She describes herself dressed in ‘gossamer’ and tulle tippet befitting a bride who is about to start a new journey and at the brink of a new beginning. Once again the reader is reminded of Dickinson’s belief in the after life.
The fifth stanza describes them stopping before a grave, perhaps her own. Now, the movement, activity and her journey through life that she describes in the previous stanzas stops, and she describes only the house, ‘the cornice but a mound’ (20).
Whilst the earlier stanzas use concrete terms of description in the last stanza she is more abstract and leaves the reader with several unanswered questions. She feels that it has been centuries since she died. And because she is joyous in her after life and so it feels like it has not even been a day. At this point she speaks of how she had first concluded that the horses of Death’s carriage were headed for eternity. Dickinson changes her tense from the past to the present and leaves the reader wondering if her journey to eternity has an end.
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