Dickinson W Essay, Research Paper

Emily Dickinson?s poem, ?Because I could not stop for Death? has been refered to as a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown by symbolicailly and metaphoricailly taking the reader through the journey of creation, life and ultimatly death. In this poem, Dickinson portrays a strange haunting power through her words. ?Because I could not stop for Death?, uses tone, symbols and powerful imagery in an attempt to allow the reader to relate to Dickinson?s own self developed perception of mortality and death.

Dickinson?s masterpiece is created to thrive on complex ideas that are evoked through symbols, which help establish the significance of her theme throughout her poem. Aside from the literal significance of the ?School?, ?Gazing Grain? and the ?Setting Sun? , these images also contribute to the poem in a metaphorical sense. Perhaps in an attempt to identify the reader with certain common stages of life. The ?School where the children strove? could represent childhood, youth and innocents, while the ?Fields of grazing grain? represent maturity and the ?setting sun? represents old age, gradually nearing the end of ones mortal existance. In addition to these three stages, the final stage of eternity was symbolized in the last two lines of the poem, the ?Horses Heads?, leading ?towards Eternity?. Dickinson fathomed the incomprehensible progression of life by unraveling its complexity with figurative symbols. However, the imagery begins the moment Dickinson invites her reader into the ?Carriage?. Death ?slowly? takes the readers on a sight seeing trip where they begin by observing the stages of life. The ?Carriage? represents a vehicle, used as a mode of transportation. Perhaps iluding to the perspective that death is a ride through life. This is exactly what occurs in the poem. The narrator is being ?driven? through life in the carriage, beginning with the school (youth, innocents); traveling to the sunset (old age) and ending at the house with the ?swelling of the ground?. This ?House? is a grave, even though the speaker uses a euphemism to describe it. This is where her body will be housed while her soul journeys onward. She describes the house as a “Swelling of the Ground,” with a clear image of a fresh burial plot. She can hardly see the roof, and the “Cornice,” or ornamental molding near the roofline, is only just visible above the pile of earth. She does not describe how long they ?paused? there, but it could not have been long. This seems to be just a way station, though the woman does not seem to know it at this point. Her destination is still a mystery. More so, the whole carriage ride represents a peaceful progression and eventually a transition into death, confirming Dickinson?s lack of fear in death.

The imagery in the final scene, “We passed the Setting Sun,” proved very emotional .One can clearly picture a warm setting sun, perhaps, over a grassy horizon. The idea of a setting sun, eventually leading to the aftermath of a slumber in a cold dark night. When Dickinson passed the ?Setting Sun?, night prevailed and it soon became time to go home and sleep. Symbolically, Her tour of life was short; and now time for ?Eternity? or death. While sight seeing in the carriage, one can gather, by the setting of the sun, that this ride seemed life long. In example often when one experiences a joyous time, time seems to ?fly? or move quickly. However the fact that this carriage ride seemed life long could express an underlying dissatisfaction or sufferage within the life of Dickinson. The imagery in this transcendent poem shines great light on some hidden similarities between life and death. This poem exercises both the thoughts and emotions of its reader and can effectively change one?s viewpoint of an eternal future. Eternity and death are two important characters in Emily Dickinson?s ?Because I could not stop for Death?. In fact, eternity could be percieved as a state of being. Dickinson believed in an eternity after death. Agreeably, one can say that Emily Dickinson?s sole purpose in this poem is to show no fear of death.

Although some find her poetry to be incomprehensible, illiterate, and uneducated

Emily Dickinson?s treatment of Death and profound metaphysical tendencies were part of the singular nature of her genius. Emily’s simple language draws rich meanings from common words. The imagery and metaphors in her poetry are taken from her observations of nature and her imagination. Dickinson most often seems as if she was obsessed with death and its consequences especially the idea of eternity. She once said, ?Does not Eternity appear dreadful to you? I often get thinking of it and it seems so dark to me that I almost wish there was no Eternity. To think that we must forever live and never cease to be. It seems as if death which all so dread because it launches us upon an unknown world would be a relief to so endless a state of existence?. Dickinson heavily believed that it was important to retain the power of consciousness after life. The question of mental cessation at death was an overtone of many of her poems. The imminent contingency of death, as the ultimate source of awe, wonder, and endless question, was life’s most fascinating feature to Dickinson. Dickinson challenges the mysteries of death with evasion, despair, curiosity or hope in her poetry as means to clarify her curiosity. From examining her poems of natural transitions of life to death and the changing states of consciousness, confronting death in a journey or dream and on the dividing line of life and death one can see that Dickinson points to death as a final and peaceful inevitable change.

Emily Dickinson?s poem, ?Because I could not stop for Death?, is an accurate portrayal of death from Dickinson?s perspective. Dickinson?s use of specific imagery has the mere intention of labeling death as an indisputable, benign experience or painless transition into an unknown eternity. This transition begins with youth, childhood and the birth of innocents and although it ends, the contents of the ending stage are an absolute mystery to Dickinson, the reader and even to humanity.