University of West Alabama Literature Emily Dickinson Poems Discussion

Respond to the following Prompt:

Emily Dickinson poems portrays death as the inevitable. Dickinson’s attitude towards death may be the result of her living through the tremendous casualties brought about by the Civil War and her own personal experience with the close succession of deaths of her family and friends. Dickinson’s poems about death confront its grim reality with honesty, humor, curiosity, and above all a refusal to be comforted (Levine, Dickinson 1654). After reading many of Dickinson’s poems, I wanted to focus on her poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, the emotions of the personae reflected are serenity and unpretentious. Dickinson writes, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me- “(Dickinson 1676). My interpretation of these words is that the personae’s life may have been so hectic, to a point where death was not even a consideration; yet it was the personae’s fate. In the second verse, Dickinson writes “We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility “(Dickinson 1676). My interpretation of these words is that the personae accepted death and was able to unshackle themselves from the ordeals and triumph experienced in the secular world. In the fourth verse, Dickinson writes, “For only Gossamer, my Gown – My Tippet – only Tulle “(Dickinson 1677). My interpretation is that the personae was even prepared for the ride with Death, wearing a burial gown, which was usually a shroud or nightwear. The personae did not exhibit any fear, the only emotion that was shown was that of comfort that the carriage that contained both the personae and Death was heading towards everlasting life.