The Complete Anaylsis of Emily Dickinson

Most, or almost all, of Dickinson’s poems relate to the topic of religious beliefs or god himself. An unsettling amount of her poems are either about dying, death, or what happens after death. What's unusual is that she has a calm and collected attitude toward deathit. The poem “Because I could not stop for death” discusses her talks about the narrator’s life and what she has been through as she is dying, almost like her last thoughts. She relates back to God and other spiritual beings in many of her other poems as well such as, “I know that he exists” and “Apparently with no surprise”. She very vividly talks about Death as a person and her in the state of dying slowly in the poem “Because I could not stop for death”.

"He knew no haste", (Emily Dickinson line 5), was a very important line in the poem “Because I could not stop for death”(Emily Dickinson line 5). Its purpose is was to show another way of saying Death didn't speed or hurry. The transition from "We" to "He" in the same line is important. The "We" in the beginning of the line might allow the reader to think the speaker has some control over the speed at which they were driving, but Dickinson tells us that "He" is the one determining the slow progress and that the speaker's along for the ride. All throughout the poem, they tell where they are driving and their surroundings, this one line, in particular, relates to the speed at which they are moving. The speaker makes it sound like she is fine and ok with what is happening when really she is about to die. It is known that the speaker is not afraid of Death in the sense that she could get out of the carriage anytime she wants, but the speaker believes Death and trusts him. This slow pace still creates a feeling of drawn-out suspense in the poem and keeps the reader wondering what might happen. Although there could be many other meanings for this one line such as romantic meanings.

Death is always lurking, waiting for the opportunity to kill. This image brings out the romantic hints contained in the poem. Death is a man who loves. Death is a man that slowly gets to know a lady before he sweeps her off of her feet and takes her home with him. That's how Death works, it wants to get to know you and what you have been through in your life before it kills you and keeps you dead forever. In this case, that house that Death would bring you to would be Eternity. There is no escape once you die, no coming back to life, it is something that will be active forever. Aside from the personification of Death as an admirer who has swept the speaker off of her feet, this “slow” carriage ride also refers the death theme. The tone and description of the speaker, death, and immortality slowly riding in a carriage can also be interpreted as an eternal funeral, it will never end.

They are driving slowly because there is no rush to get where they are going. When you are about to die, it's not something you want to have happen rather something you want to remember because it will be your last memory. In the short time between life and death and right before you die, it's almost like you take a second to realize everything you've done with your life in the span of a few minutes, so why would they not take their time. That is the time to really talk to yourself and say “have I accomplished everything I could in my lifetime?”. This relates back to the poem in the impression that when they are riding in the carriage past her last memories of her life, it's like she's asking herself that question once she passes by each memory. That's why she lets Death take as much time as he wants because she wants to remember her life one last time.

Allowing a connection between the breaks of this line are vital because Dickinson wantsed it to be clear that it was death, himself, that was in control of the speed and not herself.