Because I Could Not Stop for Death is a lyric poem on the theme of death.

This contains
six stanzas, each with four lines. A four-line stanza is called a quatrain. The poem was first
published in 1890 in Poems, Series 1, a collection of Miss Dickinson's poems that was edited
by two of her friends, Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The editors
titled the poem "Chariot."

Theme

The poem reveals Emily Dickinsons calm acceptance of death.

The theme of the poem seems to be that death is not to be feared since it is a natural part of
the endless cycle of nature. Her view of death may also reflect her personality and religious
beliefs.

The poets of the nineteenth century wrote on a variety of topics. One often used topic is that
of death. The theme of death has been approached in many different ways. Emily Dickinson
is one of the numerous poets who uses death as the subject of several of her poems. In her
poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, death is portrayed as a gentleman who comes
to give the speaker a ride to eternity. Throughout the poem, Dickinson develops her unusual
interpretation of death and, she composes a poem full of imagery that is both unique and
thought provoking.
Structure

The precise form that Dickinson uses throughout Because helps convey her message to
the reader. The poem is written in five quatrains. The way in which each stanza is written in
a quatrain gives the poem unity and makes it easy to read. The poem gives the reader a
feeling of forward movement through the second and third quatrain. (For example, in line 5,
Dickinson begins deaths journey with a slow, forward movement, which can be seen as she
writes, We slowly drove-He knew no haste. The third quatrain seems to speed up as the
trinity of death, immortality, and the speaker pass the children playing, the fields of grain,
and the setting sun one after another. The poem seems to get faster and faster as life goes
through its course. In lines 17 and 18, however, the poem seems to slow down as Dickinson
writes, )
We paused before a House that seemed /
A Swelling of the Ground-.
The reader is given a feeling of life slowly ending. Another way in which Dickinson uses the
form of the poem to convey a message to the reader occurs on line four as she writes, And
Immortality. Dickinsons form helps the reader begin to comprehend the poem.

Alliteration
Figurative language is one of the literary elements that Dickinson uses to help convey
hidden messages to the reader. Alliteration is used several times throughout the poem. An
example of alliteration occurs in lines through
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess-in the Ring-
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-
Alliteration is used four times in the third quatrain alone. Bettina Knapp states that, the
alliterationsdepict a continuity of scenes, thereby emphasizing the notion of never-
endingness.
Repetition
Another type of figurative language that is used is repetition. The first instance of repetition
occurs in lines 9, 11, and 12 as she writes, We passed three times. The speaker in the
poem is passing through everything that she has already lived through, thus giving the
reader a sense of life going by. Another instance of repetition occurs in the fourth stanza.
Dickinson repeats the word ground in lines 18 and 20 to help remind the reader that she is
describing a grave, not a house.
Rhyme
Figurative language is also used as Dickinson creates two instances of perfect rhyme. The
first time perfect rhyme is used is in lines 2 and 4 with the rhyming of the words me and
immortality. The second, and last, time perfect rhyme is used is in lines 18 and 20 as she
repeats the word ground. All in all, Dickinsons use of figurative language contributes to
the meaning of the poem.
Tone
Another literary element that Dickinson uses in her poem is tone, which is used to help
create the general mood of the poem. It is interesting to note that her tone in regards to
death contrasts with that of her time period.. Society in the 1800s viewed death as being
morbid and evil. Dickinson, on the other hand, made death into being pleasant. She portrays
death as being a kind gentleman, perhaps even a suitor, who is taking her out for a ride in a
carriage.
The imagery in Because assists in the creation of a pleasant tone. Dickinson describes
children playing, which also gives the poem a more affable mood. Another way in which
Dickinson makes death a more agreeable subject for the reader is in the fifth quatrain as she
compares the grave to a house. In line 17, she writes, We paused before a House. As she
does so, the reader gets the image of a young lady being dropped off at her home by her
suitor. However, as Dickinson goes on to write in line 18, A Swelling of the Ground-, the
reader is reminded that it is actually a grave that she is being taken to. Her grave is also
portrayed as a house in lines 19 and 20 as she writes,
The Roof was scarcely visible- /
The Cornice-in the Ground.
The cornice can be viewed as being either the ornamental roofing around the speakers
house, or as the molding around her coffin. By comparing the grave to a house, Dickinson
helps to lighten the tone of the graveyard scene. The only time when Dickinson does give
the reader a true sense of mortality is as the sun passes the speaker. She portrays the sense
of mortality is in lines 12 and 13 as she writes, We passed the Setting Sun- / Or rather-He
passed Us-. Dickinsons effective creation of a pleasant tone is seen throughout Because.
Symbolism
Dickinson uses the final literary element of symbolism to help the reader to understand the
meaning that she is trying to convey.

The carriage is symbolic of a hearse and carries the speaker, who is symbolized as
humanity, and her suitor, who is symbolized as death. The two characters create the third
passenger of the carriage, who is immortality. Their carriage ride is also symbolic of time,
since, like time, it moves slowly. The speaker looks outside of the carriage and sees children
playing games in a ring, which symbolizes her looking back on memories of her childhood.
The children can also serve as a symbol of human life.

Next, she sees fields of gazing grain, which symbolize her looking back on her adulthood
and maturity. The gazing grain can also be viewed as a symbol of the inanimate parts of life.

Setting sun

Finally, she sees the setting sun pass the carriage, which symbolizes either old age or death
by showing that she is beyond mortal time. Even though most readers would see the suitor
as being symbolic of death, Symbols give the poem a deeper outlook on death, eternity, and
immortality.
Images
Even though Dickinsons style of writing is concise and to the point, she is able to use many
vivid images to paint an everlasting picture in the readers mind. Each image that she uses
builds upon the other images. The first image that the reader sees is that of a carriage
picking up the speaker, which is depicted in lines 1 and 2 as Dickinson writes, Because I
could not stop for Death- / He kindly stopped for me. As the speaker looks outside of the
carriage, she broadens the picture by describing what she sees around her. Her first
description is of children playing games in a ring. It moves on to describe the fields of grain
she is riding through. Another image that is seen is that of the setting sun. In the fourth
quatrain, she describes the speakers light form of dress in detail. She does so in lines 15
and 16 as she writes, For only Gossamer, my Gown-, My Tippet-only Tulle-. Through the
image of gossamer, the reader can see the fine, flimsy cloth that her gown is made of. The
way in which Dickinson presents the speakers tippet allows the reader to receive the mental
picture of a bridal veil (qtd. in Davis 117), as Anderson interprets it to be.

Next, Dickinson paints a picture of a house, but still reminds the reader that it is actually a
grave that she is describing. The final image in the poem is that of the horses heads looking
toward eternity. Knapp believes that the final image allows the speakers view to broaden
from inside of the carriage to the rest of the outside world (94). Thus, the reader is given a
broader image than what he has yet experienced in the poem. Now, the reader is left with
the image of eternity. The number of images lessen as the poem draws on.
interpretation
I Could Not Stop for Death can be interpreted in many different ways. The first
interpretation deals with the Christian view of death and immortality. In the Christian view of
death, a person dies and goes on to a better place to live forever. During a persons life,
time means everything, but once a person dies and enters eternity, time is irrelevant. The
irrelevancy of time can be seen as Dickinson writes in lines 21 and 22, Since then-tis
Centuries-and yet / Feels shorter than the Day.
In another interpretation of the poem, death is viewed as being her suitor. He is described as
being a kind gentleman taking her for a ride in a carriage. Her marriage to her suitor
represents her marriage to God. Additionally, the poem can be understood as being a short
biography of her life. As the speaker passes her childhood, she brings back memories of the
happy and normal part of her life. However, as she comes upon her maturity, the sun passes
her, which represents life passing her.In other words, she was confident that, when she died,
her poems would live on. The poem has left a conflict among scholars who have interpreted
the poem in many ways.

Meter

In each stanza, the first line has eight syllables (four feet); the second, six syllables (three
feet); the third, eight syllables (four feet); and the fourth, six syllables (three feet). The
meter alternates between iambic tetrameter (lines with eight syllables, or four feet) and
iambic trimeter (lines with six syllables, or three feet). In iambic meter, the feet (pairs of
syllables) contain an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Be CAUSE..|..I COULD..|..not STOP..|..for DEATH,

He KIND..|..ly STOPPED..|..for ME;

The CARR..|..iage HELD..|..but JUST..|..our SELVES

And IM..|..mor TAL..|..i TY.

End Rhyme

.......The second and fourth lines of stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 rhyme. However, some of the
lines contain only close rhymes or eye rhymes. In the third stanza, there is no end rhyme,
but ring (line 2) rhymes with the penultimate words in lines 3 and 4.