“Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson is an unconventionally structured poem that uses metaphors, irony, imagery and imitative form to tell the story of life, the journey to death, and the speaker’s apparent calm acceptance of it.
The poem is in ballad form and is comprised of six stanzas of four lines each that follow a consistent pattern of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. While the physical structure of the poem appears to be unusual because of Ms. Dickinson’s use of dashes, odd punctuation and inconsistent capitalization, there are many conventions at work. This poem does not follow a rhyme scheme, but there is a subtle use of alliteration and there is a very noticeable rhythm that mimics the sound of horses’ hooves hitting the ground.
In the first stanza, the speaker introduces us to Death. Death is quickly personified as a thoughtful and familiar gentleman that stops to pick up and accompany our speaker on an assumed journey - “He kindly stopped for me” (2). The tone of the stanza is almost romantic and the speaker seems to be in good spirits. The speaker continues by describing the vehicle in which she is being whisked away, and mentions a fellow passenger “The Carriage held but just Ourselves/ And Immortality” (3/4). Her tone is reassuring, relaxed and almost witty. The dashes are left to the end of each line, providing no obstructions or apprehension and adding a slight amount of speed to the each verse.
In the second stanza, the irony continues. She writes “We slowly drove, he knew no haste” (5) suggesting a pleasant and unhurried drive. The speaker describes ceasing her labor and leisure (6/7) for death, yet shows no resentment for having to stop her livelihood; instead she appears accommodating to death’s graciousness.
Stanza three is rich with metaphors, imagery and holds some of the most important elements of Ms. Dickinson’s poem. The speaker describes the passing landscape as she continues on her carriage ride. She describes children at play in a schoolyard (9/10), Fields of Gazing Grain (11), and the Setting Sun (12). These images symbolize the three stages of life: Children at play to the beginning of life (9/10). “Fields of Grazing Grain” represent youth to adulthood, or the middle stage of life (11). And “the Setting Sun” is likened to the final stage of life (12). These images seem to impact the speaker and her initial enthusiasm begins to fade. The presence of dashes mid-line in this stanza no longer seem to describe the pace of the carriage ride, but perhaps her hesitation as these images seem to register for her, and reality sets in. This stanza is also set apart by Ms. Dickinson’s use of anaphora in the recurrence of the words “We passed” (lines 9, 11, 12) and alliteration “Recess . . . Ring”, “Gazing Grain” and “Setting Sun” (lines 10, 11, 12).
The poem is in ballad form and is comprised of six stanzas of four lines each that follow a consistent pattern of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. While the physical structure of the poem appears to be unusual because of Ms. Dickinson’s use of dashes, odd punctuation and inconsistent capitalization, there are many conventions at work. This poem does not follow a rhyme scheme, but there is a subtle use of alliteration and there is a very noticeable rhythm that mimics the sound of horses’ hooves hitting the ground.
In the first stanza, the speaker introduces us to Death. Death is quickly personified as a thoughtful and familiar gentleman that stops to pick up and accompany our speaker on an assumed journey - “He kindly stopped for me” (2). The tone of the stanza is almost romantic and the speaker seems to be in good spirits. The speaker continues by describing the vehicle in which she is being whisked away, and mentions a fellow passenger “The Carriage held but just Ourselves/ And Immortality” (3/4). Her tone is reassuring, relaxed and almost witty. The dashes are left to the end of each line, providing no obstructions or apprehension and adding a slight amount of speed to the each verse.
In the second stanza, the irony continues. She writes “We slowly drove, he knew no haste” (5) suggesting a pleasant and unhurried drive. The speaker describes ceasing her labor and leisure (6/7) for death, yet shows no resentment for having to stop her livelihood; instead she appears accommodating to death’s graciousness.
Stanza three is rich with metaphors, imagery and holds some of the most important elements of Ms. Dickinson’s poem. The speaker describes the passing landscape as she continues on her carriage ride. She describes children at play in a schoolyard (9/10), Fields of Gazing Grain (11), and the Setting Sun (12). These images symbolize the three stages of life: Children at play to the beginning of life (9/10). “Fields of Grazing Grain” represent youth to adulthood, or the middle stage of life (11). And “the Setting Sun” is likened to the final stage of life (12). These images seem to impact the speaker and her initial enthusiasm begins to fade. The presence of dashes mid-line in this stanza no longer seem to describe the pace of the carriage ride, but perhaps her hesitation as these images seem to register for her, and reality sets in. This stanza is also set apart by Ms. Dickinson’s use of anaphora in the recurrence of the words “We passed” (lines 9, 11, 12) and alliteration “Recess . . . Ring”, “Gazing Grain” and “Setting Sun” (lines 10, 11, 12).
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