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Death In Emily Dickinson's Work

1040 Words5 Pages

Jayden Knowles
December 11, 2016
ENG 1102
Mrs. Carolipio
Comparing the Imagery of Death in Dickinson’s Work Two pieces of profound literature from one woman. Emily Dickinson is widely known for her work in the poetry field. She told from her own experiences, but also from other experiences that were not her own. A few of her pieces relate, but two of them more than the others. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died.” The two poems may relate, but they are also very different in comparison. Dickinson wrote these two poems in a short time span, only one year apart from each other. In one of the two poems, there is something or somewhere that one will go after death takes place, but in the other one, there is …show more content…

The afterlife factor in it, however, is a complete turnaround from how Emily wrote the poem "I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died." In this piece, the afterlife portion is not as straightforward, but it is still very present in the poem. Dickinson shows the reader a woman lying on her bed waiting to pass on, but also surrounded by all of her family and loved ones. It seems as if she knows that death is about to take over her soul, but yet she is not too sure about where she will go after death takes her from her family. The family, then waits for her soul to pass on and the woman is waiting for her “King” (line 7). The king that Emily is showing the readers here is some sort of God, that some religions believe in, just like how this lady did. As the woman slowly passes on her “windows” (or her eyes) can no longer see (line 16). This goes way deeper into meaning than her just not being able to see. It actually meant that the woman did not see the “King” or anything that she hoped she would have seen when she passed. She was completely taken off guard by not seeing the things she expected to see, but whenever she was already too far gone before she realized there was nothing for her after her life on earth. This woman, unlike the other one, died with no afterlife in

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