Poem: 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 –

Summary

The poem is based on death and the after-life experience of the speaker of the poem. The poem begins abruptly. As we read the poem, we see that the speaker of the poem is a female figure who was wearing her fancy dress(gown). The poet personified Death and stopped to pick her up and take her on a ride in his horse-drawn carriage. Although she was not prepared for this ride. The speaker feels easy and comfortable with the gentleman(death and immortality). As they passed through the town, she sees the children playing (means childhood days), fields of grain (means maturity), and the setting sun (means death). As dusk sets in the speaker begin to feel chilly because she is only wearing thin silk. They stopped at a house like ‘A Swelling of the ground’ which will be her grave. In the final stanza, the speaker suddenly informs that this ride with Death took place centuries ago. Yet she feels that this event took place yesterday when she first got the feeling that horse heads pointed towards ‘Eternity’. Thus the journey suggests the passage from life to death-to an eternal life.

Rhyme Scheme

A rhyme scheme is the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb.

The general rhyming pattern of each stanza is abcb.

In the first stanza, the first line and third line ends with “Death’ and. “Ourselves” respectively. These words do not rhyme. The last word of the second line, “me” rhymes with the last word of the fourth line, “Immortality”. However, the later stanzas are not perfectly rhymed because there are variations. She uses “half rhyme’ or “slant rhyme’ as in the third stanza in which “Ring” does not rhyme with “Sun”.Its quatrains are similar to that of a hymn. Its Lyrical quality is also like that of a hymn. It doesn’t follow the proper rhyme of abcb. There are some variations in it.

Tone

The tone is a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength. The poem opens in a happy tone as if the speaker is speaking about her first journey. The first line opens in a tone of explanation Because I could not stop for Death. The speaker of the poem accepts death commonly. The speaker’s tone in the poem makes the reader believe the speaker does not fear death but feels the opposite towards it. If the poem did not look for death with an underlying theme of love, the acceptance of death might be hard for the reader to believe. The last stanza of the poem becomes nostalgic as the speaker recalls her century-old experience of dying.

Structure

The poem is a hymn. A hymn is a lyric poem that is addressed to God. The poem consists of six stanzas and each stanza has 4 lines. The poet used iambic pentameter lines throughout her poem. The general rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb. But it doesn’t follow the rhyme scheme. The post uses here half rhyme. The poet here praises Death as an immortal being. Its lyrical quality makes it a perfect hymn.

Theme

The theme is the central idea in a piece of writing. The whole body explains the theme. The central theme of the poem is the journey of the line through life to eternity. The poem deals with the death and the afterlife experience of the speaker. At first, the poet describes the journey of a woman who is picked up by Death on his carriage and moves towards eternity. Here Death has been personified who stopped his carriage and picked up the woman to journey to the next world. The woman was not prepared to go with death because she was busy with her daily work. But the Death stopped himself and picked her up on his carriage. They moved slowly and passed the school where children were playing that means childhood experiences. They also passed the fields where there were grains gazing which means maturity of the speaker and lastly, they saw the setting sun which means death. They stopped at a house that looked like a swelling ground and the roof of the house was not visible. In the last stanza, the woman realizes that their journey began hundreds and hundreds of years. The poem reveals that every living being is always busy with worldly works, and so he has no time to wait for death. But it is towards eternity.

Authors Position

When an author writes to persuade, he/she will have his/her own position on the subject. The author’s position is an author’s opinion about the subject. It may be subjective or objective.

Subjective means where the writer can use his/her own feelings, emotion, and own choice.

Objective means where the writer can’t use his/her own feelings, emotions, and own choice.

The poem is a subjective one. Here, the poet directly describes her own experience. She describes the journey from life to eternity. Her companions are death and journey. They take the poet to her grave. So all the elements are her personal experience. So it’s a subjective poem.

Figures of Speech

Figures of Speech mean the use of ornamental elements in a piece of writing.

Alliteration:
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds.
“The Dews drew quivering and chill”.
Here “D” is repeated so it’s an example of alliteration.

Personification:
It is a figure of speech in which the writer puts imaginary life into a living being or thing.
“Death”, “Immortality”, and ” Setting Sun” all are personified by the poet.

Metonymy:
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which one thing is related to another thing.
“My labor and my leisure”.
Here poet’s whole life is related to “labour” and “leisure”

Symbolism:
Symbolism refers to a thing that stands for something else. It is basically an image that, by virtue of recurrent uses.

*Here, ” School” symbolizes the speaker’s childhood days.
“Gazing grain” here “gazing grain” means the mature age of the poet.

* “setting sun” here “setting sun” symbolizes death.

So the poet uses some figures of speech to attract the reader’s attitude.