Young Writers Society

Because I could not stop for Death is a lyric poem written by Emily Dickinson, first published in 1890. Like much of Dickinson's works, this poem has for theme 'death'. and is written in six quatrains with no rhyming scheme however jumps between an iambic tetrametre and iambic tetrametre when referring to the rhythm.

The narrator of the poem seems to be telling the story from beyond the grave - beyond life, as she accounts on "Death's" visit, meaning "Death" here has taken her away from life.

The narrator is referring to death as taking her for a ride, just like a fiance would take his loved one for a ride. The personification of death here makes it seem as though its arrival was pleasing.

In the second stanza, the narrator is reminiscing - going through different stages of her life and experiences. The first stage shown is childhood. We are given evidence of this because of the school she describes, with the children playing and moves to a later stage in life when describing ripening grain. This shows the development in maturity of the narrator and the fact that there was no reference to rusting, decomposition or decay shows that death did not come when the narrator had reached old age. Therefore, it shows that she was not prepared for death to have come along.

"Quivering and chill" here refers to her surroundings and her reaction because of the setting Sun. The setting Sun here can be a personification of life, slipping away, causing the narrator to shiver. The way she is dressed also explains her reaction to the surroundings: the attire she described are worn at weddings - which explains, again, her relationship with 'Death'.

The theme of the poem is death; however Dickinson expresses the process as one which must not be feared. This may be because of her religious beliefs, since she was a Christians and Christians believe that they should fear nothing, for their faith in God shall protect them. It may have also been because she believed it was a normal process and is part of nature. Dickinson often liked writing about nature and was herself, a botanist so has a love for life that surrounds us. She therefore didn't fear death coming her way and the poem refmects her views towards it as though she had been very familiar with it- like an old aquaintance.

In the second stanza, the narrator is reminiscing - going through different stages of her life and experiences. The first stage shown is childhood. We are given evidence of this because of the school she describes, with the children playing and moves to a later stage in life when describing ripening grain. This shows the development in maturity of the narrator and the fact that there was no reference to rusting, decomposition or decay shows that death did not come when the narrator had reached old age. Therefore, it shows that she was not prepared for death to have come along.

"Quivering and chill" here refers to her surroundings and her reaction because of the setting Sun. The setting Sun here can be a personification of life, slipping away, causing the narrator to shiver. The way she is dressed also explains her reaction to the surroundings: the attire she described are worn at weddings - which explains, again, her relationship with 'Death'.

The theme of the poem is death; however Dickinson expresses the process as one which must not be feared. This may be because of her religious beliefs, since she was a Christians and Christians believe that they should fear nothing, for their faith in God shall protect them. It may have also been because she believed it was a normal process and is part of nature. Dickinson often liked writing about nature and was, herself, a botanist so has a love for life that surrounds us. She therefore didn't fear death coming her way and the poem reflects her views towards it as though she had been very familiar with it- like an old acquaintance.

The errors I found are mostly spelling. And a comma-splice. A comma-splice is when a comma is used in place of a semicolon, which is improper. A semicolon connects two full sentences. Other than that, I don't see much else. Except for the misspelling in the title...
I like how you look into the poem you were reading. And I hope I helped you out!
~LP