Because I
could not stop for Death
- -Emily
Dickenson
Because I
could not stop for Death-
He kindly
stopped for me-
The
Carriage held but just Ourselves-
And
Immortality.
We slowly
drove – He knew no haste
And I had
put away
My labor
and my leisure too,
For His
Civility-
We passed
the School, where Children strove
At Recess –
in the Ring-
We passed
the Fields of Gazing Grain-
We passed
the Setting Sun-
Or rather –
He passed Us-
The Dews
drew quivering and chill-
For only
Gossamer, my Gown-
My Tippet –
only Tulle-
We paused
before a House that seemed
A Swelling
of the Ground-
The Roof
was scarcely visible-
The Cornice
– in the Ground-
Since then –
‘tis Centuries – and uet
Feels
shorter than the Day
I first
surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward
Eternity-
Vocabulary
Dews: 이슬
Tippet: 모피 어깨걸이
Tulle: 실크, 나일론 등으로 망사처럼 짠 천
Gossamer: 아주 가는 거미줄
Cornice: 처마 돌림띠
‘tis: it is
Analysis
Paper
‘Because I could not stop for Death’ by Emily
Dickenson reflects Emily’s perspective toward the issue of life and death. In
the poem, strangely, she does not refuse to go with death nor try to negate the
reality that approached her. She seems to be always ready to travel with death,
which common people would be terrified of. She even describes Death as ‘kind’
on the second line of first stanza, and thanks Death for putting away ‘my labor
and my leisure too, for his civility’ on the second stanza.
This is because of her very special perspective
towards death. She had erected her own belief system, just like in a religion. Most
religions have their own life and death formulas, such as in Christianity, a
heaven and a hell exists, and in Buddhism or Hinduism, people get eternal chances
of reborn after death. According to her, death is not the end, but an eternity,
which is implied on the last line of the first stanza, ‘And Immortality.’ The
carriage here represents her belief system, indicating that when she is with
Death, Immortality is always in it.
Along the journey, the carriage passes by three
places representing human life, ‘School’, ‘Fields of Gazing Grain’, and the ‘Setting
Sun’. These three places symbolize the limitations of human life, as opposed to
eternal death. The ‘Recess – in the Ring’ indicates that the recess has ended,
the ‘Gazing Grain’ is the ripened grain that will be harvested soon, and the ‘Setting
Sun’ will soon disappear from the sky. Emily, Death and Immortality pass by
these human life and head for endless journey.
On the fifth stanza, they stop before ‘a House
that seemed A Swelling of the Ground’, which we can easily picture as a grave,
where dead people’s bodies are laid. However, only her body stays behind, her
soul keeps on traveling.
After Centuries later, on the carriage she
thinks, that ‘the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity.’ Here, the Horses’ Heads
indicates her direction, which is the eternity.
Connecting this poem with her biography, Emily
Dickenson’s unusual point of view on life and death may have contributed to the
way she lived her life, avoiding to meet people, or even going outside. She may
have thought her present life as a human was useless and where she really
wanted to go may actually be the eternity, along with the Death and the
Immortality, like in the poem.