Ans: Emily Dickinson is one of the leading exponents of death in the field of English literature. She is notoriously (কুখ্যাতভাবে) known for her obsession (ঘোর) with Death. In fact, death is Emily’s central motivating force which left its impact on all her thinking and gave its tint (আভা) to the majority of her poems. Her treatment of death is noticeable in the poem “Because I could not stop for death” very vividly (প্রাণবন্তভাবে). This poem is one of the most well-known poems of Death by Dickinson.
“Because I could not stop for death” is one of her many poems that reveal her preoccupation (মনের বদ্ধমূল ধারণা) with death, In this poem, the treatment of death is unusual in a sense, she treats him as an endearing (প্রিয়) bridegroom (বর) who leads her first to a grave and then to eternity (অনন্তকাল). The concept of death as something to be embraced finds the best expression in “Because I could not stop for death” where Dickinson personifies and presents death as a symbol of gentleness and kindness. Death as a gentleman kindly stops to collect the speaker in his carriage (বহন) for the expedition (অভিযান) to eternity. The opening immediately establishes what kind of Death is:
” Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality. “
The journey started and their carriage moved along slowly. Death did not show any hurriedness (তাড়াহুড়ো) and behaved very courteously (বিনয়ীভাবে). She felt so comfortable with him that she left her daily chores; she praises death for her matchless civility. She says in the following manner —
” And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility “
In the poem “Because I could not stop for death”, Dickinson has shown her firm (দৃঢ়) belief in the continuity (ধারাবাহিকতা) of life. According to her, Death is not the end of life because life is continued after man’s exit from the material world. To her, Death is a gateway to immortality. Dickinson associates (সহযোগী) eternity with continued placelessness.
In the very poem, Dickinson uses several images to add grandeur (মহিমা) to her treatment of death. In it, the “Grazing Grains” (শস্য চারণ) suggest midlife, and the “setting sun” (অস্তগামী সূর্য) suggests the death of the speaker. The poet makes it clear that death was present in childhood, in midlife, and in old age till the end of the speaker. So, the carriage is a hearse (শ্রবণ) that carries a dead body to the grave. Death remains with her before she died and accompanied (অনুষঙ্গী) her to eternity passing through the grave. The immortality of human life is conveyed through the following lines —
” Since then – ’tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity – “
In the poem, Emily describes death as a mild (হালকা) one and gentleman. Death is like the bridegroom and the poet is his bride.
To sum up, it can be said that the theme of death has been handled very successfully and effectively in “Because I could not stop for death”. Death is a driving force in Emily’s poems. In her opinion, death is a gateway to immortality.