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‘Eternity’ is a term that brings to life the timeless infinity of both marriage and death. Marriage symbolizes the depth of eternal love and death symbolizes the longevity of eternal rest. The union of these two seemingly opposite realities define the poetic climax of Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop For Death. Dickinson uses numerous features to awaken her audience to the narrator’s journey towards immortality. The long-awaited, yet inevitable merger of life and death is emphasized by the use of form and allegorical personification. The application of poetic structure, including capitalization, dashes, and rhyme schemes characterize this passage.
On the literal level of this poem, the narrator begins by recollecting her introduction to death. She is carried off and elopes with a man named Death and his partner in crime, Immortality. She is taken past important defining moments in her life until they reach their final destination, which is death. Her reflections upon viewing her life from an outsiders perspective gives her the vision to comprehend her impact on one side of reality, while she subsequently awaits the next.
On the symbolic level, Dickinson effectively uses allegory and personification. The fusion of
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An example of this effect is “We passed the Setting Sun –” (12). The last stanza of the poem “Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet, Feels shorter then the Day, I first surmised the Horses’ Heads, Were toward Eternity –” (21-24) substitutes the past tense for the present tense, which according to the speaker, is centuries from that day. It has been argued that the line “…Children strove at Recess –” (9-10) symbolizes her childhood, but I argue that what it actually implies is the she now finds the petty worries and responsibilities of life frivolous and childish.
The highly effective genius of Emily Dickinson is taken to new heights in this classic poem. The carriage ride allows the character to...