Two Poems By Emily Dickinson Essay, Research Paper

Emily Dickinson wrote many poems in her lifetime. She writes two of my favorite poems. They are: “I heard a Fly buzz when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death”. They both have similarities and differences from each other.

There are similarities in these two poems such as the theme and the observentness of the narrator. Both of the poems themes involve death. In “I heard a Fly buzz when I died”, the poet writes, “ And then the Windows failed – and then I could not see to see- “, which means that the narrator’s eyes would not open no more; they had died. In “Because I could not stop for Death” it shows the theme even in the title. In this poem, the poet writes in a clearer way that her theme was of a deathly tone. “Because I could not stop for Death- He kindly stopped for me”. The narrator in these two poems is quiet observant. In “I heard a Fly buzz when I died”, the narrator can hear the buzzing of a fly just before he/she dies. The poet writes, “-and then it was There interposed a Fly-“

In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the narrator is naming the things that he/she sees as she travels with death to eternity. The poet writes, “We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess-in the Ring-We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-” These are a few similarities between the two poems.

There are differences in these two poems such as the setting and where the narrator went after he/she died. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the setting is outside where it is cool. I know this because the poets write, “We slowly drove-,” and “The dews drew quivering and chill-” In the poem, “I heard a Fly buzz when I died”, the setting is in a warm and moist room. I know this because the poet writes, “”The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air-”. The narrator in “Because I could not stop for Death”, died and had an after life where death is leading him/her. The poets tells us this, “Since then-tis Centuries- and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses Heads Were toward Eternity”. The narrator in the poem, “I heard a Fly buzz when I died”, did not have an after life. I know this because the poet writes, “And when the Windows failed- and then I could not see to see”. These are a few differences between the two poems.

My reactions to the two poems were about the same in both. I like in, “I heard a Fly buzz when I died” the description of how the room felt and then disturbing of the narrator’s final resting place by the fly. In the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” I liked how death had to stop the narrator from his/her seemingly busy life and how they both then observed the living world as death and the narrator left to eternity.

In conclusion, the two poems have similarities and differences. These are two poems that I really like. Not because of the theme of death, but because of the descriptiveness of the two poems for the poet never having experienced death, herself.

Bibliography

Prentice Hall Literature, The American Experience.

1991, Prentice-Hall, INC.