Poem Analysis: Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Because I Could Not Stop For Death is a lyrical poem because it tells a story using rhythm and delves into the author’s emotions. Upon reading the poem for the first time, I assumed--from the title--that is was going to be about someone dying, and perhaps contemplating their life while on their deathbed. While the poem is about death, it personifies death and makes death a peaceful journey rather than suffering until the end. The reason I chose the poem is because I had read it around the same time I got a scary diagnosis, and it helped me not be so scared of the worse case scenario--death.

The poem is about a woman who gets picked up by a gentleman in a carriage. The gentleman is Death. They travel peacefully and slowly taking their time. They pass children playing, fields, and even the sun until it stops at her grave. Her trip seems like it went by fast, but actually it lasted an eternity.

Not only does the poem tell a visualizing story, it captures feelings. It’s visual in the way that it shows the children playing, grain fields, and the setting sun.There’s more to these things being visuals though. On one hand, it shows how life is still going on without her. Children are still going to play, grains are still going to grow, and the sun is still going to set. It shows how insignificant she is in the world, and yet, in another way, it can be seen of her life passing before her. The playground is when she was a child, the grains is when she  was grown and strong, and the setting sun when she was at the end of her life. The speaker is a woman explaining her journey with Death. We know she’s a woman because he’s wearing a dress. The poem starts with “because” and due to this it gives a feeling that she is explaining something to other people.

“For only Gossamer, my Gown –  / My Tippet – only Tulle” (15-16)

She talks in past tense as if her journey had already happened and she is telling someone about it.

“Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day” (21-22)

The speaker does appear to be addressing other people, like she is telling a story perhaps to the living, by way that the poem has a narrative feeling to it.

The voice of the poem holds a very patient and calming tone. Her attitude is neutral toward Death--maybe a little respectful. Death isn’t something to feared, but rather like a companion. The tone stays consistent in its serene nature until the very end. I don’t believe the poet was being ironic, I think she was fascinated and scared of death and this was a way to cope with it. In her time, death was something often contemplated because religion focused heavily on death and back then people died more easily than today. She often wrote about death, but in this unique poem, death is something entirely different.

The poem speaks to everyone because as humans, we are often contemplating death and are scared of it. Death is often seen as a scary figure, painful, or the end of everything, but this poem shows it in a different light. Rather than the grim reaper with a skull face and sythe, a companion comes for us, and rather than it being the end, we go on a journey--one that lasts longer than our life. The poem states, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves –  / And Immortality.” (3-4) By saying immortality rather than mortality, it shows that the speaker doesn’t think death is the end. Death will always be something we fear because it’s the unknown, which makes the poem even more relatable because we want death to be something like this. It’s hopeful. This poem resonates with all because everyone is scared to die.

In the beginning lines, “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me” (1-2) by her using the word “kindly” it already starts Death off as a gentle figure and eases the mind. By saying, “I could not stop for Death,”(1) it relates to people because not only are we so busy living our lives--almost too busy to stop for anything--we especially don’t want to stop for death because we don’t want to die. And by her saying Death stopped for her shows us a kind gesture even without her using the word “kind” because she herself was too busy to stop for anyone, but Death stopped for her.

The poem is organized in very short sentences with dashes. When one reads it, it makes the reader pause and read slowly and gives the feeling of the poem where everything is moving patiently and relaxed. The line breaks often reveal more to the story, almost like a tiny plot twist. For instance, “We passed the Setting Sun – / Or rather – He passed us – “ (16-17), at first when she states they passed the setting sun, you get an image that the sun is setting, it’s getting darker, but then when she springs the second part it shows you how slowly they are travelling and they perhaps it’s not them passing life by, but by life passing them by. Nothing changes when you die.

She uses dashes to explain more detail and make the poem more visual. As an example, “At Recess – in the Ring –” (10) and “My Tippet – only Tulle –” (16) by using the dashes, she creates the picture and explains what the children are playing, and what her dress is made of, rather than making the poem wordy. Technically, the poem isn’t shaped a  certain way, and it’s not concrete, but there is something about how narrow the poem is--how she uses clipped words--that makes the poem pause a lot and read slowly, so as the reader reads it cascading downwards, it comes off as the same pace as perhaps the carriage. This would be lost if the poem got changed to a prose.

Although there is a rhyme scheme, the poet likes to break it a bit in this poem. She rhymes “Me” with “Immortality”, she also uses slant rhymes such as, “Day” and “Eternity”, but she even go as far as no rhyme at all, like with, “Ring” and “Sun”. It works though because throughout the poem she uses, “Immortality”, “Civility”, and “Eternity” to all come together in a rhyme scheme. Another way she ties the poem together is by saying “We passed” over and over, and then at the end, when they get to her grave, she says, “We paused.”

Dickenson likes to capitalize nouns to make them sound important and stand out. For instance, in the lines, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality.” (3-4) Immortality is capitalized almost as if it’s a person, like Death is. Some people believe that Immortality is also a person, a chaperone in fact, because during Dickinson’s life, couples needed to have a chaperone. Although, Ourselves--among other words--is also capitalized  emphasizing that perhaps they are by themselves.

The Carriage is a striking image in the poem because it’s where all the action takes place. Here, she also capitalizes it, showing its importance. It’s a metaphor for the journey to death--and with death. The sun setting, and the speaker getting chilly is also a metaphor for the coldness we associate with death. When she says, “Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day / I first surmised the Horses’ Heads / Were toward Eternity (21-24), by using “surmise” we see that all of this is based on feelings or instincts.

Death says nothing to her, and yet she still feels at peace even without knowing for sure what’s going on.

I chose this poem because I find it both enchanting and peaceful. It’s like listening to a lullaby, and it has a calming affect. Death is something everyone contemplates, and the idea of it can be so cruel and frightening, but this poem makes me brave. The poet could anticipate a reader like me because every single human contemplates death numerous of times. It’s the unknown, and it’s everyone's’ most primal fear.

I liked the poem the first time I read it because I really loved how Death wasn’t a scary skull in a black cloak. It was the first time Death was depicted as gentle and kind. I also love the era, so the carriage, the gown, and the gothic atmosphere just comes together so perfectly in my mind. I think anyone can appreciate this poem. I think at the end when they get to the “house”, it can be a little confusing because people are expecting either a tombstone or golden gates, so when she’s taken to a house in the ground, I could see it not being so clear at first.