Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson Reference Context Explanation summary for BA BSc English Notes
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson Reference Context Explanation summary for BA BSc English Notes   Poet: Emily Dickinson


About the Poet

Emily Dickinson:

Emily Dickinson is an American poetess who wrote in the latter half of the 19th Century (1830-1886). She led a very isolated and introspective life and grew in a very orthodox and austere family. She read at the Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Her experience of life was limited, but she was able to give a great deal of intensity of her mind to her poems. Social and contemporary problems do not figure in her poetry. Her poems are deeply personal and she generally deals with problems of faith and death.

The idea of the Poem:

The poetess talks about death and the gentle nature of its approach. Death is a common enough theme in poetry. What is remarkable about this poem is the wonderful sense of peace and religious serenity which is the outcome of deep personal faith. Death is seen not as the end, but as the beginning of immortality. The image of the leisurely drive reflects the passing nature of this life in its various stages, school life, maturity, and old age, until the final destination, the House "that seemed a swelling in the ground". that is the grave. In contrast to this process of passing time in eternity where all time ceases and becomes centuries that yet feel shorter than the day The image of the ride in the carriage has a dual significance: it is a journey from life to death, from the physical to the spiritual, from time to timelessness.
Words             Meaning
Gossamer      Very fine, flimsy material
Tulle              Delicate thin fabric
Surmised      Conjectured, Guessed

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” written by Emily Dickinson.

Context:

In this poem the p talks I death grid the gentle nature of its approach. She describes our existence in this world from cradle to the grave. To her, it is a journey from life to death. Actually dying to the poetess is the end of death and the start of eternal life. The poetess travels with death and finally, they reach a mound of earth which is, in fact the grave. The grave is an entrance to the life after death and immortality.

Stanza: 1

Because I could not stop for Death-
He kindly stopped fro me-
The Carriage held but just Ourselves-
Ans Immortality.

Explanation:

In these lines, the poetess says that she was so busy that she could not wait for death to accompany him. Death was so kind that he stopped and waited for her. The vehicle of death carried only two persons-the poetesses and death. Also, there was immortality which was not visible. Their carriage was carrying them towards eternity. The suggestion is that death is always present with human beings but it is not visible. When death kills a person he goes to eternity and cannot return from there. Death has killed her and now she goes to eternity.

Stanza: 2

We slowly drove-He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labour and my leisure too,
For His Civility

Explanation:

The poetess says that death and she herself drove very slowly the vehicle of life. Death was not in a hurry. She deferred all of her chores. She even put away her hard work and her spare time for the decency of death. Both the poetess and death carried on their journey in the same carriage, towards immortality.

Stanza: 3

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess-in the Ring,
We passed the field of Gazing grain
We passed the Setting Sun

Explanation:

In these lines, the poetess says that she and death passed by the school where children were contesting at the recess time in a circle. They also passed by the ripe corn which was waiting to be reaped. The ripened gram had covered many plains of field. During their journey, they also saw the setting sun while passing by it. The children at school, the ripe corn, and the setting sun maybe her childhood, youth, and old age.

Stanza: 4

Or rather- He passed Us-
The Dews drew quivering and chill-
For only Gossamer, my Gown-
My Tippet-only Tulle

Explanation:

In this stanza, the poetess says that it was rather the sun which, while going down passed by them. Then, after the sunset, night prevailed. The dew-drops began to fall gently. These drops brought to light, cold, and shivering. She arrived because she was wearing a very decent dress. The dress consisted of her feminine scarf and thin gauzed clothes.

Stanza: 5

We passed before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground-
The roof was scarcely visible-
The Cornice-in the Ground

Explanation:

In these lines, the poetess tells that they continued their journey for quite some time. At last, they stopped at a house that was merely a swelling of the ground. It was the grave. The roof of the house was hardly visible because its cornice was so low that it was at level with the ground or in the ground. In this stanza, the suggestion is that man continues his life, passes by many events, good or bad, and finally reaches the grave. The grave is very low and it seems as if it were a bulging of the ground.

Stanza: 6

Since then-'tis Centuries-and yet
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the Horses' heads
Were towards Eternity.

Explanation:

After stopping at the grave, the poetess says that there is a feeling that many centuries elapse in the grave but all this time seems to be even shorter than a day. The poetess further says that at the very outset of their journey she had guessed that the horses of their carriage were carrying them towards eternity. The whole poem is full of the thought that with man's arrival at this world, death also journeys with him. Man performs many tasks and acts in various stages of life. Right from his infancy, school-life maturity, and old age, he passes and finally reaches the grave, an eternal destination. It is here that eternity, or his never-ending life, or life from time to timelessness starts.

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