He is no frightening, or even intimidating, reaper, but rather a courteous and gentle guide, leading her to eternity. The speaker feels no fear when Death picks her up in his carriage, she just sees it as an act of kindness, as she was too busy to find time for him. It is this kindness, this individual attention to her—it is emphasized in the first stanza that the carriage holds just the two of them, doubly so because of the internal rhyme in “held” and “ourselves”—that leads the speaker to so easily give up on her life and what it contained. This is explicitly stated, as it is “For His Civility” that she puts away her “labor” and her “leisure,” which is Dickinson using metonymy to represent another alliterative word—her life. Indeed, the next stanza shows the life is not so great, as this quiet, slow
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Katherine Ann Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” they both examine the central theme of death and denial throughout the two short stories. The two main characters, Miss Emily and Granny Weatherall, portray this theme. Both characters share not only similar themes throughout their short story, but also many different characteristics. Understanding the background on these characters is a key component in the central theme throughout this short story, which is both death and denial. Both Miss Emily and Granny Weatherall are stubborn old women, who cannot face actually reality.
It is here that Donne rejects the medieval ideals of death being daunting. Donne refuses to glorify death. Margaret Edson carries the particular concern of death being insignificant by having her protagonist say ‘I know for a fact I am tough.’ Vivian uses Brechtian technique to address the audience, which is fitting due to the uncomfortable topic of death. The individual is then persuaded to believe that death is not an obstacle, but a mere experience. Regardless of the large spatiotemporal gap between the 17th and 20th Centuries, death is no more than a phase than a rite of passage.
Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Why was Emily Dickinson so obsessed with death? Emily Dickinson, a poet who lived in the nineteenth century, often centered her poetry surrounding the theme of death. Dickinson was born into a wealthy family and received some higher education at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before homesickness overcame her (Habegger). Dickinson never married, which was unusual for the time period, and became a recluse later in life (Habegger). Many of Dickinson’s immediate and extended family members fell ill and died due to “consumption”, which is known today as Tuberculosis (Habegger).
Published on April 30, 1930 in a major magazine at the time, Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” showcases the life of Ms. Emily Grierson, a local townswoman, and is captured in a mysterious and eventually horrific context that allows the reader to understand the sadness and morbid side of death. The story is a set in a southern context that Faulkner knew all too well and contains implications of contrasts between northern and southern society. Faulkner uses many different elements in this work to portray death in its entire grotesque and horrifying splendor. Particularly, Faulkner uses two certain elements to accomplish this task. Faulkner successfully conveys the theme of the power of death in “A Rose for Emily” by incorporating the use of the literary elements of foreshadowing and narrative voice.
Analysis of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson In Dickenson’s poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she gives death a personification. Death is a character, a gentleman suitor of “kindness” and “civility.” Death never rushed her, or stole her. He did not push her to communicate with him, but Immortality, who is also in the carriage (or hearse), would be their chaperon, a silent one. For they all would leave this life in not a fuss, but pleasantly and in a sophisticated manor. They would not cause a scene, but continue on their journey, for again, Death was respectful and wished to be as discreet and deferential as possible.
This poem is one of many among her works that deals with death and dying, and this particular is interesting in part because the speaker is obviously dead and is looking back on the experience of dying. The tone, however, is calm resignation and serene detachment. In the first four lines, the poet seems to be too busy living, and so Death "kindly stopped for me," and then the poet introduces the metaphor of a journey with "the Carriage held just ourselves. . .
Personification in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Death, whether distant or near is an event that cannot be stopped. In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” the speaker personifies death as a person who follows her through a journey. Refusing to stop for death, it then follows the speaker with no haste to the destination she is slowly taken to where she will stay for eternity. For example, Dickinson further explains a recap of her life, as she slowly and peacefully is lead by death to her afterlife. About her journey to her destination, Dickinson writes, “Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me”(1-2).
Of course not because it is impossible. All one can actually do is guess what happens. Most people are scared to death about death. Indeed, the subject is a very morbid topic to talk about of. However, Mark Twain chose to make fun of the subject; “The fear of death follows from the fear of life.
The next stanza shows how the speaker observes death as a person. The third stanza takes a look at the passage of existence. Meanwhile the next stanza is connected with the grave. In the last stanza the poem demonstrates how there is no time restraint with eternity. In this poem there is an alternation between different meters to measure the variable of time.