Because I could not stop for Death
by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the School, where Children strove
At recess in the ring
We passed the fields of gazing grain
We passed the setting sun.
Or rather, he passed us
The dews drew quivering and chill
For only Gossamer, my gown
My tippet only tulle.
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.
My choice for this entry is the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emilie Dickinson. This famous author of the 19th century wrote a lot of poems about Death.
As confusing as this poem was after my first reading, I realized how much there was to it as I started searching for symbols and clues to understand.
First of all, the title confused me more than anything, “Because I could not stop for death” gives the subject matter of this poem, but also a sense rush. But does it mean the author is trying to escape death or is it a reference to others death and not being able to stop and cope for their death?
The first stanza then starts off with the title, with this same confusing idea of death being a person. It almost feels like the author would have stopped for death if she had a chance, but she didn't. In only one verse the author puts herself in control of Death, as if she was the one controlling whether or not she wanted to give time to Death.
To most of us, Death is a scary and taboo subject, we seem to always personify it as one entity that would come and take us away. But here the author makes it a person that we get close to as the poem goes. In the second verse the speaker who didn't have time to stop for Death ends up having the luxury of having Death stopping for her. Death is even described here as “kind”, as if Death, was a gentleman stopping to pick up a hitchhiker. So far, the mental image that I made of this scene is the speaker walking along an empty road, Death coming with a Carriage and taking time to stop for her. But then a third character comes in this scene, Immortality. Again, the notion that exists in our culture is defined here as a person. We now have the author sitting next to Death depicted as a gentleman and in the back, Immortality, all sitting quietly. What strikes me in this first stanza is the absence of description. We have an image of three characters sitting on a “carriage”, but no landscape or anything around, as if there was actually nothing surrounding the scene.
The second stanza gives us a bit more information about this scene, the carriage is moving slowly (“he drove slowly”, “he knew no haste”), we now have motion clues added to our scene. Then giving the favor back to Death, the speaker “puts her labor and leisure away”to make it an amicable ride. In only two stanzas the relationship between Death and the speaker became civil. It almost seems like this poems could have been made to make the speaker itself feel more comfortable around death.
The third stanza finally brings a background to this scene: “a school where children strove at recess in the ring”. This verses bring the notion of the beginning of life. Then using the repetition of “passed” the speaker takes us through a field of “gazing grain” and “a setting sun”. Again, by personifying the grain the speaker makes it a striking visual element. Giving the grain a human reaction to their passage and using the visual element of the sun, the speaker sets up a bright and shiny grain field that looks alive. In this stanza, the author takes us through the cycle of life with the children as the notion of youth, the grain as life and the sun as eternity.
Continuing with the sun, the speaker then emphasis the fact that the sun is eternal “or rather he passed us”. Not only does the speaker makes it a person but it is also a reminder that the sun is a much bigger entity, to me this one line is the most powerful one. The sun being what our planet depends on and being much bigger, it reminds us of how short and little our life is compared to this eternal planet. Then a textural clue is added. “The dews drew quivering and chill”. This cold and humid texture contrast with the worm and shiny sun used in the preceding verse. Knowing that the speaker is sitting next to Death, this notion of “chill” only makes sense to me and brings back our cultural beliefs concerning death. We also get a sense of time, or should I say confusion about time. There was a sun set in the last verse and the “dew” is already there “quivering and chill”. Isn't the dew suppose to come later in time? How much time as gone by? But again, we are in presence of Death and immortality, a complete unrealistic scene where opposites meet. The end of this stanza brings us visual clues about the speaker. “For only Gossamer, my gown My tippet only tulle.” For such a ride, with Death and Immortality, the author seems to be wearing very formal cloth. The “tippet” is what makes her outfit so formal, as if she was attending an important event. Knowing that she is riding in a carriage with Death and Immortality, this makes it a very “last ride” kind of image.
The fifth stanza brings us to a strange looking house. But first another notion of motion stops us there:”we paused before a house”, show us that the carriage driven by Death actually stopped to look at this house, this must be an important house or a very meaningful one. The way the speaker describes this house gives an image of a tomb, an old one bitten by time and taking roots into the ground. The house, or shall I say “tomb” seems to be coming out of the ground (“swelling”) and it seems like earth is trying to suck it back in. Knowing that the house is a continuation of our body, this image of a tomb seems to represent a tomb enclosing not only our body but also our life. This image being used after the children in third stanza, the grain field and the sun in the forth and fifth stanza, emphasis the idea of cycle of life. Going from youth (or birth) with the children, to life and eternity with the grain and the sun to finally a creepy vision of death with the house described as a tomb, we now have gone through all stages of this cycle from birth to death.
Finally in the last stanza, the speaker gives us yet another clue of time, but only to break our notion of time: “Since then 'tis centuries and yet Feels shorter than the DAY”. This two lines change this short trip into an endless one. Then again with the last lines it seems that the carriage is heading towards eternity.
