Death And Immortality

Death and Immortality

The Lyrical poem "Because I Could Not Stop For DeathÐ'--" by Emily Dickinson began as her being unable to stop for death, so death came for her. She took a journey with Death and Immortality. They passed children at recess, fields of grain, and the setting sun. They rode until darkness when they came to a house with a collapsed roof. She then reminisces about the day of her journey and how short it has felt. The basic theme of this poem is that with death comes immortality. This in itself is an ironic thought, that when you die you become immortal.

Dickinson begins the poem "Because I could not stop for deathÐ'--"(line 1), which signifies a life that is hectic and busy. She was unable to stop what she was doing and confront death. In turn, Death stopped for her. She describes Death and Immortality as passengers in the carriage. Death came to her in a carriage with Immortality, which is closely linked to the overall theme of the poem.

Death begins to "slowly" (line 5) drive because he is not hastened by time. She then writes that she "put away My labor and my leisure too" (lines 6 and 7). This means that she put aside her work and her hobbies for the "civility" of Death. This is the second occurrence of good comments towards Death. In stanza one, she said that Death had "kindly" (line 2) stopped for her and in the second stanza describes him as civil. This is not a common view of death. Dickinson describes Death, as if it was a good thing coming to relieve her from her hectic life.

While on her journey with Death and Immortality she passes a school where children are playing, she passes fields of grain, and the setting sun. In this stanza she experiences life from childhood to the end of life as the sun sets. The children represent her childhood. "in the Ring" (line 10) signifies the ring of life and how she is no longer within this "ring" or circle of life. She then passes "the Fields of Gazing Grain" (line 11), which represents adulthood and a mature kind of state within her life. The "Setting Sun" (line 12) represents life in the later stages when Death is imminent. This is also the sun that is setting on her life.

In contrast with the previous stanza, this stanza describes a cold, dark environment. The sun has set fading the sky to black and causing the temperature to drop. She goes on to describe her attire as "Gossamer, my Gown" (line 15) and "My TippetÐ'--only Tulle" (line 16). Gossamer is a delicate filmy material