Because I could not stop for Death

Last updated
Emily Dickinson in a daguerreotype, circa December 1846 or early 1847 Emily Dickinson daguerreotype.jpg
Emily Dickinson in a daguerreotype, circa December 1846 or early 1847

"Because I could not stop for Death" is a lyrical poem by Emily Dickinson first published posthumously in Poems: Series 1 in 1890. Dickinson's work was never authorized to be published, so it is unknown whether "Because I could not stop for Death" was completed or "abandoned". [1] The speaker of Dickinson's poem meets personified Death. Death is a gentleman who is riding in the horse carriage that picks up the speaker in the poem and takes the speaker on her journey to the afterlife. According to Thomas H. Johnson's variorum edition of 1955 the number of this poem is "712".

Contents

The poet's persona speaks about Death and Afterlife, the peace that comes along with it without haste. She personifies Death as a young man riding along with her in a carriage. As she goes through to the afterlife she briefs us of her past life while she was still alive.

Summary

The poem was published posthumously in 1890 in Poems: Series 1, a collection of Dickinson's poems assembled and edited by her friends Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The poem was published under the title "The Chariot". It is composed in six quatrains in common metre. Stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 6 employ end rhyme in their second and fourth lines, but some of these are only close rhyme or eye rhyme. In the third stanza, there is no end rhyme, but "ring" in line 2 rhymes with "gazing" and "setting" in lines 3 and 4 respectively. Internal rhyme is scattered throughout. Figures of speech include alliteration, anaphora, paradox, and personification.

The poem personifies Death as a gentleman caller who takes a leisurely carriage ride with the poet to her grave. She also personifies immortality. [2] [ better source needed ]

A volta, or turn, occurs in the fourth stanza. Structurally, the syllables shift from its regular 8-6-8-6 scheme to 6-8-8-6. This parallels with the undertones of the sixth quatrain. The personification of death changes from one of pleasantry to one of ambiguity and morbidity: "Or rather—He passed Us— / The Dews drew quivering and chill—" (13–14). The imagery changes from its original nostalgic form of children playing and setting suns to Death's real concern of taking the speaker to the afterlife.[ citation needed ]

Text

Close transcription [3] First published version [4]



Because I could not stop for Death —
He kindly stopped for me —
The Carriage held but just Ourselves —
And Immortality.

We slowly drove — He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility —

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess — in the Ring —
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —
We passed the Setting Sun —

Or rather — He passed Us —
The Dews drew quivering and Chill —
For only Gossamer, my Gown —
My Tippet — only Tulle —

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground —
The Roof was scarcely visible —
The Cornice — in the Ground —

Since then — 'tis Centuries — and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity —

THE CHARIOT

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.






We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Critique and interpretation

Dickinson has been seen as a "pagan" poet by some (sometimes referring to herself as such), and classified by others as a Christian poet in the meditative tradition. [5] There are interpretations that relate "Because I could not stop for Death" specifically to Christian belief in the afterlife, reading the poem from the perspective of a "delayed final reconciliation of the soul with God." [6]

In the poem, the speaker joins both "Death" and "Immortality" inside the carriage that collects her, thus personifying a two part process. If one interprets this according to Christian scripture, the poem imagines an afterlife most similar to the book of Revelation. First life stops following death, but, à la Revelation, we only encounter eternity at time's end (by way of resurrection and last judgment). While death is the guaranteed of the two, immortality "remains ... an expectation." [6] The horses that lead the carriage are only facing "toward Eternity," which indicates either that the speaker has yet to reach it or that it can never be reached at all.

Dickinson's tone contributes to the poem as well. In describing a traditionally frightening experience, the process of dying and passing into eternity, she uses a passive and calm tone. Critics attribute the lack of fear in her tone as her acceptance of death as "a natural part of the endless cycle of nature." [6]

In 1936 Allen Tate wrote,

[The poem] exemplifies better than anything else [Dickinson] wrote the special quality of her mind ... If the word great means anything in poetry, this poem is one of the greatest in the English language; it is flawless to the last detail. The rhythm charges with movement the pattern of suspended action back of the poem. Every image is precise and, moreover, not merely beautiful, but inextricably fused with the central idea. Every image extends and intensifies every other ... No poet could have invented the elements of [this poem]; only a great poet could have used them so perfectly. Miss Dickinson was a deep mind writing from a deep culture, and when she came to poetry, she came infallibly. [7]

Musical settings

The poem has been set to music by Aaron Copland as the twelfth song of his song cycle Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson . John Adams set the poem to music as the second movement of his choral symphony Harmonium . It has also been set to music by Natalie Merchant (on Retrospective: 1995–2005 ).

Related Research Articles

In poetry, a stanza is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. There are many different forms of stanzas. Some stanzaic forms are simple, such as four-line quatrains. Other forms are more complex, such as the Spenserian stanza. Fixed verse poems, such as sestinas, can be defined by the number and form of their stanzas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Dickinson</span> American poet (1830–1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst. Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even to leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most of her friendships were based entirely upon correspondence.

Common metre or common measure—abbreviated as C. M. or CM—is a poetic metre consisting of four lines that alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The metre is denoted by the syllable count of each line, i.e. 8.6.8.6, 86.86, or 86 86, depending on style, or by its shorthand abbreviation "CM".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonnet 73</span> Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 73, one of the most famous of William Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, focuses on the theme of old age. The sonnet addresses the Fair Youth. Each of the three quatrains contains a metaphor: Autumn, the passing of a day, and the dying out of a fire. Each metaphor proposes a way the young man may see the poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonnet 55</span> Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 55 is one of the 154 sonnets published in 1609 by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is included in what is referred to as the Fair Youth sequence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonnet 64</span> Poem by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 64 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.

Sonnet 125 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabel Loomis Todd</span> American author (1858–1932)

Mabel Loomis Todd or Mabel Loomis was an American editor and writer. She is remembered as the editor of posthumously published editions of Emily Dickinson's poetry and letters and also wrote several novels and books about her travels with her husband, astronomer David Peck Todd, as well as co-authoring a textbook on astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I taste a liquor never brewed</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"I taste a liquor never brewed" is a lyrical poem written by Emily Dickinson first published in the Springfield Daily Republican on May 4, 1861, from a now lost copy. Although titled "The May-Wine" by the Republican, Dickinson never titled the poem so it is commonly referred to by its first line.

Vietnamese poetry originated in the form of folk poetry and proverbs. Vietnamese poetic structures include Lục bát, Song thất lục bát, and various styles shared with Classical Chinese poetry forms, such as are found in Tang poetry; examples include verse forms with "seven syllables each line for eight lines," "seven syllables each line for four lines", and "five syllables each line for eight lines." More recently there have been new poetry and free poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I like to see it lap the Miles</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"I like to see it lap the Miles" is a short poem by Emily Dickinson describing an "iron horse" or railroad engine and its train. The poem was first published in 1891.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Nobody! Who are you?</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a short lyric poem by Emily Dickinson first published posthumously in 1891 in Poems, Series 2. It is one of Dickinson's most popular poems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Success is counted sweetest</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"Success is counted sweetest" is a lyric poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1859 and published anonymously in 1864. The poem uses the images of a victorious army and one dying warrior to suggest that only one who has suffered defeat can understand success.

"I heard a Fly buzz—when I died" is the informal name for an untitled poem by American author Emily Dickinson. In the poem, the narrator is on her deathbed as she describes the progression towards her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson</span> American writer, poet, traveler, and editor

Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson was an American writer, poet, traveler, and editor. She was a lifelong friend and sister-in-law of poet Emily Dickinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soldier's Dream</span> Poem written by Wilfred Owen

Soldier's Dream is a poem written by English war poet Wilfred Owen. It was written in October 1917 in Craiglockhart, a suburb in the south-west of Edinburgh (Scotland), while the author was recovering from shell shock in the trenches, inflicted during World War I. The poet died one week before the Armistice of Compiègne, which ended the conflict on the Western Front.

Poetic devices are a form of literary device used in poetry. Poems are created out of poetic devices via a composite of: structural, grammatical, rhythmic, metrical, verbal, and visual elements. They are essential tools that a poet uses to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">There's a certain Slant of light</span> Poem

"There's a certain Slant of light" is a lyrical poem written by the American poet Emily Dickinson. The poem's speaker likens winter sunlight to cathedral music, and considers the spiritual effects of the light. Themes of religion and death are present in the poem, especially in connection to the theological concept of despair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">"Hope" is the thing with feathers</span> Lyric poem by Emily Dickinson

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers" is a lyric poem in ballad meter by American poet Emily Dickinson. The poem's manuscript appears in Fascicle 13, which Dickinson compiled around 1861. It is one of 19 poems in the collection, in addition to the poem "There's a certain Slant of light". With the discovery of Fascicle 13 after Dickinson's death by her sister, Lavinia Dickinson, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" was published in 1891 in a collection of her works under the title Poems, which was edited and published by Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millicent Todd Bingham</span> American geographer, Emily Dickinson scholar

Millicent Todd Bingham (1880–1968) was an American geographer and the first woman to receive a doctorate in geology and geography from Harvard. She was also a leading expert on the poet Emily Dickinson.

References

  1. Sullivan, Michael J (2019-01-01). "Dickinson's Voice Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Edited by Cristanne Miller". Essays in Criticism. 69 (1): 103–109. doi:10.1093/escrit/cgy030. ISSN   0014-0856.
  2. ""Because I could not stop for Death": Study Guide". cummingsstudyguides.net. Archived from the original on 2006-06-24. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  3. Fr#479 in: Franklin, R. W., ed. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 1999.
  4. Poem IV.XXVII (page 138) in: Higginson, T. W. & Todd, Mabel Loomis, ed. Poems by Emily Dickinson. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1890.
  5. Gerlach, John (1996). "Emily Dickinson's Fascicles: Method & Meaning (review)". The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5 (1): 121–123. doi:10.1353/edj.0.0144. ISSN   1096-858X. S2CID   171050556.
  6. 1 2 3 Spencer, Mark (2007-01-01). "Dickinson's Because I could not Stop For Death". The Explicator. 65 (2): 95–96. doi:10.3200/EXPL.65.2.95-96. ISSN   0014-4940. S2CID   162367202.
  7. Tate, Allen (1936). Reactionary Essays on Poetry and Ideas. C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 13–14.