Analyzing Death in Poems: the Man He Killed, Because I Could Not Stop for Death and the Destruction of Sennacherib

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Analyzing Death in poems: The Man He Killed, Because I could not stop for Death and The Destruction of Sennacherib In the poems Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy, and The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron, death is portrayed from different perspectives and each has its own distinctive tone. In Because I could not stop for Death, a person describes his or her journey with Death from life to the afterlife, The Man He Killed tells the story of a man that killed another in war who wonders if his actions were actually reasonable, and in The Destruction of Sennacherib the author describes the attempt of the Assyrian king Sennacherib to take over Jerusalem which is foiled by the death of his whole army overnight. Each poem deals with death, but how is it portrayed by the speaker? Because I could not stop for Death is a very simple poem that delves into the journey of what comes after life. The poem portrays death as a very kind entity that did the speaker a kindness by coming for him or her since they could not “stop for death.” Throughout the poem, this journey is depicted as carriage ride in which the person that has died notices the daily routines of life as something to pass by and learns that death means immortality, for she no longer has a concept of time in a traditional sense. In no moment does the speaker feel Death is threatening and actually welcomes Death as a kind and gentle being so her attitude and tone is very accepting throughout. In The Man He Killed, a soldier wonders if his killing of the “enemy” is justifiable in any way. He pictures in his mind that, had it not been for the circumstances of war, they could have maybe sat down to some beers and even be friends. He goes on to say that he killed the other man on the grounds that they were war enemies and could not think of any other

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