C l a s s i c a l A r t s U n i v e r s e – C A U [603587]

C l a s s i c a l A r t s U n i v e r s e – C A U
Page – 1 Emily Dickinson – Because I could not stop for death – Summary & Analysis

Emily Dickinson one of the foremost women poets in American literature, she wrote more
than 1800 poems during her lifetime and many are being found in creasing the count often.
Her poems are honest, penetrative and psychologically precise with a gr eat deal of
adventure in every single piece. Unfortunately, only a handful of her poems are published
and it is the posthumous anthologies that made her famous as a poet. In th e poem –
Because I could not stop for death – DiĐkiŶsoŶ deals ǁith the afterlife aŶd the speaker’s
travel with the personification of death. The poem is written in six stanzas and in the form
of a lyric dealing with the theme of death.
Because I could not stop for Death – Summary of the poem
The speaker in the poem is too busy to approach death; therefore, deat h comes in the form
of a gentleman to pick her up on a chariot. The carriage included n o other and the speaker
travelled with death alone. The civility of death is praised as he dri ves the chariot with a
relaxed and steady pace which provides ease to the poet.
The chariot crosses a town where children are seen playing and there are f ields with full of
grain. They witness the serenity of the setting sun. But, as the sun sets the speaker feels the
chill of the night and believes that she is not properly dressed for the occasion (date with
death).
They halt before a house that appears to be a small mound emerging from the ground (the
grave of the speaker). She could not clearly see the roof of the house and the cornice was
ŶothiŶg ďut the ŵouŶd of earth. The speaker realizes that i t’s ďeeŶ ĐeŶturies siŶĐe he death
and it feels to her like yesterday that she was eternally taken by death.
Because I could not stop for Death – Analysis of the poem
Stanza- 1: The speaker represents the human race when she declares that she is too busy to
think about death. It has become our primordial instinct to survive t hrough all the
difficulties posed by the community. But death never forgets and comes after those whose
time in this realm is over. To the speaker Death is kind and it off ers a chariot to take her
away. There is a lot of pe rpledžitLJ aďout the iŶĐlusioŶ of ͞IŵŵortalitLJ͟ iŶ the last liŶe of th e
stanza (as the speaker says that the chariot has Death, her and Immortality). T he reason for
the inclusion of the word can be only understood from the meanin g of the last stanza.
Stanza- 2: The speaker considers Death as wooer who shows civility in his man ners. She
expresses pleasantness about the steady handling of the chariot by Death . In response, she
forgets all her labour and leisure to enjoy the ride. This description of the chariot ride can be
interpreted as a smooth passing of the soul after death and the person has l eft the world
without having to struggle too much nor with pain.

C l a s s i c a l A r t s U n i v e r s e – C A U
Page – 2 Stanza- 3: The third stanza in the poem – Because I could not stop for Death – through three
various descriptions gives a complete cycle of life. The chariot passes chi ldren playing
joyfully indicating the innocent childhood, the grazing grain a ttaining fruitfulness indicating
manhood and the setting sun dawning light indicating the old age w here one waits for the
darkness to take over.
Stanza- 4: The speaker shows uncertainty about the passing of the sun as she feel s that they
didŶ’t pass oǀer, ďut it ǁas the “uŶ ǁho Đrossed theŵ. This gliŵ pses that the speaker is
resting somewhere and it is her soul travelling in the chariot. The realiz ation slowly creeps
into the speaker as she feels the chill and understands the way she dresses, w hich is
inappropriate for a pleasant chariot ride and feels as if it is an abrupt gesture (from Death).
Stanza- 5: The chariot pau ses at her graǀe, ǁhiĐh she Đalls as her ͞house͟ aŶd it is ŶothiŶg
ďut a sǁelliŶg oŶ the grouŶd. It is iŶdeed Ŷo house ďut the speaker’s graǀe ǁhere she rests
and watches the world eternally. The journey of the speaker after witnessing different
marvels of the world pauses at the grave and goes on, indicating that there is an after-life
for her (human race) and she must continue her journey. The grave is only the resting place.
Stanza- 6: The first liŶe of the last staŶza iŶ ͞BeĐause I Đould Ŷot stop for Death͟ reǀeals that
it has been centuries since the death of the speaker. Although, it was so many years ago she
feels the memory as fresh and it feels as if it happened on that very d ay. She believes that it
is the daLJ she died ǁheŶ the horses’ of the Đhario t were pointing her towards eternity. It is
the reasoŶ for the iŶĐlusioŶ of ͞IŵŵortalitLJ͟ iŶ the first staŶza, as dea th though appears to
be a gentleman apprehends the soul for eternity and one has to jou rney through without
any respite.
The poem – Because I could not stop for Death – deals with heavy subjects such as death,
time and eternity. But Emily Dickinson deals with them in a sim ple manner so that the idea
or intention of the poem is clearly visible to the reader. One can co mprehend infinite
meanings on the poem and this is one of the crowning pieces o f Dickinson; because of the
way Death is personified as a gentleman and how the true nature of death causes a
realization in the speaker about the eternity of being in a grave.