How Emily Dickinson's Life Reflected In Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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Emily Dickinson is perhaps the greatest female poet in the history of prose writing. She is also one of the most spiritual and confusing. Dickinson had a very active, sharp-witted mind, and her poems are truly fascinating to read. She seemed obsessed with what was to come next after this world’s life was over. Many of her numerous poems consider what the afterlife is like and all of them differ. Poems such as “Because I could not stop for Death,” “My life closed twice before its close,” and “The World is not conclusion” all have different takes on what the process to the afterlife is like, what the description of the afterlife is, and how the manner of death comes. “Because I could not stop for Death” is one of her most well-known poems, and one that is truly fascinating to pick apart. In this poem, she describes Death as a gentleman, as he “kindly stopped for me” and that he was civil and in no rush (Dickinson 1206). The carriage ride to the afterlife takes her through the various stages of her life, the most prominent one being her childhood. Her ride to her future in the afterlife gives her time to reflect and there is no great haste to get to their destination. She describes that time has passed quickly, that it has been centuries since she has arrived, but is feels shorter than the day she took her carriage ride to the afterlife. “My life closed twice before its close” is a poem that …show more content…
“Because I could not stop for Death.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 8th ed. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. New York: Norton, 2013. 1206-07. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “My life closed twice before it’s close.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 8th ed. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. New York: Norton, 2013. 1214-15. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “This World is not conclusion.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 8th ed. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. New York: Norton, 2013. 1204-05.
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