Because I Could Not Stop For Death By Emily Dickinson

803 Words4 Pages

The poems “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” by Emily Dickinson both describe death and a journey one takes to get there. In “Because I could not stop for Death” the speaker tells of someones journey to death that did not see it coming and had no time to slow down to notice it. While in the poem “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” the speaker describes ones journey to death that knows it is coming, someone who is prepared and waiting for it to happen. Death can arrive in many different forms, it is different for everyone and nobody knows when or how it will come no matter how prepared or not prepared someone is. In “Because I could not stop for Death” Dickinson views death as a kind person, “He kindly stopped for me” (752). He stops to pick up a woman that is to busy in life the notice that he is there. He takes her on a carriage ride from life to afterlife. Since death is so kind to stop for her she stops doing the things that make her so busy so they can enjoy the ride. As they pass children at play, fields and the setting sun it then becomes a sinister scene. It is now cold and her clothing is old and tattered. He then takes her to her home, “ A Swelling of the Ground” (752). This describes her grave. It has been centuries since her death, it seems to her like it has only been a day although she still sees the horses that took her to eternity. She does not realize how long she has been gone. She realizes that she never slowed down to

Open Document