Poetry Analysis of "Because I could not Stop for death" by Emily Dickinson

1. Because I
Could not Stop
for Death
By: Emily
Dickinson
Brian S., Caitlyn M.,
Stephanie L.

2. Define Words
 Gossamer: a thin, light cloth
 Line 15
 Tippet: A woman's scarf, typically of fur
 Line 16
 Tulle: A soft, fine silk, cotton, or nylon material like
net, used for making veils and dresses.
 Line 16
 Cornice: the molding around the top of a building
 Line 20

3. Pictures
Tippet GossamerTulle

4. Poetic Devices
 The entire poem contains imagery to create the
scene of the speaker traveling with death to the
grave
 Repetition
 “We passed…” appears 3 times in the 3 stanza
 Alliteration
 “Recess…Ring-”
 “Grazing Grain”
 “Setting Sun”
 “Gossamer…Gown-”
 “Tippet…Tulle-”
 “Horses’ Heads”

5. Poetic Devices
 Metaphor
 The character of death is used as an extended
metaphor to examine what real death may be like
 The house is a metaphor fir a grave. This shows the
speaker accepts and is comfortable with dying.
 Personification
 Death is personified and is a guide leading the
speaker to eternity
 “He kindly stopped for me-”
 “He knew no haste-”
 “His Civility”
 “We paused before a House…”
 “The Dews grew quivering and chill-”

6. Punctuation and
Capitalization
 Capitalized words bring the reader’s attention to
the word and show its importance. Also causes
readers to pause and consider their importance
 Uses a lot of dashes to emphasize a longer pause
 References to religion reflect her very religious
values
 “He”  God
 “Immortality”  belief that life after death is eternal in
heaven

7. Diction
 Dickinson uses a simple writing style that
emphasizes the speaker’s acceptance with death
 “kindly” and “civility”: convey to readers that
Death is the speaker’s friend and the speakers
accepts dying
 Death “slowly drove – he knew no haste”, so
readers can infer that death is slow and takes its
time.
 The grave is not something to be feared. This is
shown by her describing the grave simply as a
“House”

8. Summary of Stanza #1
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
The speaker is too busy for death, so
death “kindly” takes the time to do
what the speaker can’t and stops for
the speaker

9. Summary of Stanza #2
We slowly drove- He knew no haste,
And I had put away
My Labor, and my leisure too,
For His Civility.
The “civility” that Death exhibits in
taking the time out for the speaker
leads the speaker to give up those
things that made the speaker so busy
so he can enjoy the ride.

10. Summary of Stanza #3
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess, in the Ring-
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-
We passed the Setting Sun.
These are reminders of the world the speaker
is leaving behind.

11. Summary of Stanzas
Her place in the world shifts between
stanza 3 and stanza 4. The speaker is
no longer active but now only part of
the landscape.

12. Summary of Stanzas
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground-
The Roof was scarcely visible,
The Cornice-in a mound-
The carriage pauses at her new “House”,
which is not an actual house, but instead
a grave. They only pause here because it
is only a resting place as the speaker
travels to eternity.

13. Summary of Stanza #4
Or rather- He passed Us-
The Dews grew quivering and chill-
For only Gossamer my Gown-
My Tippet only Tulle.
The speaker is not properly dressed
for a funeral. In fact, the gossamer
gown is more like a wedding dress,
which represents a new beginning
rather than an end

14. Summary of Stanzas
Since then-'tis centuries- and yet each
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward eternity.
There is a glimpse given at eternity,
made clear in the 1st 2 lines, as the
speaker says although it has been many
years since death, it feels no longer than
a day- the day of the speaker’s death

15. Tone
 Lighthearted and Accepting
 Although death is usual a sad event, Dickinson makes
it seem like a good thing because the speaker does
not fear it.
 Uses words like “kindly”, “civility”
 Solemn
 Death is a serious subject, but the speaker
understands now that it is just a part of life.
 Uses phrases such as “He knew no haste”
 Shock
 Death came for the speaker in the middle of her busy
life, when she was not prepared
 “Because I could not stop for Death-”

16. Theme
 While we are never prepared for death, it
is not to be feared, but should be
embraced because it is part of the
endless circle of life.

17. Transcendentalist or Anti-
Transcendentalist?
 Transcendentalists believed nature was symbolic.
Dickinson used many images from nature in this
poem
 “Fields of Grazing Grain”
 “Setting Sun”
 “Dews”
 “…a House that seemed a swelling of the Ground”
(her grave)