Acceptance of death is one of the main themes of Emily Dickinsons poem, Because I could not stop for death Only published in 1886 after her death; it puts the reader in a first person perspective, following her funeral carriage as it is drawn by

The mood of the opening two stanzas is rather neutral, only hinting at the underlying darkness, and it is in the third stanza in which it is revealed. Dickinson begins by describing the carriage passing a school, where children “strove At Recess – in the Ring” the verb “strove” is used instead of a more expected word such as “play”, making the children seem to struggle in their activities; and the noun “Ring” also makes the children seem confined and trapped, and in combination with “strove”, makes childhood innocence seem a difficult goal to achieve. The carriage then passes fields of “Gazing Grain” and a “Setting Sun” which are both metaphors for the life’s stages, the grain being the middle and the setting sun the end. The adjective “Gazing” gives an eerie feeling to the passage and the impression that the speaker was being watched and judged throughout her life. Dickinson then writes “Or rather – He passed us”, referring to the sun. This gives an image of the speaker lying dead, while the world continues to go round, passing her, and making her feel very insignificant in the world. Up until here the mood of the poem, while surreal, has been a warm one. But this shifts as Dickinson uses the noun “Dew” and the verbs “quivering” and “chill” to give the feeling of deathly coldness. She then describes her gown being “only gossamer” and her tippet being “only tulle”. Both are thin, light fabrics and are not the most protective of clothing. These descriptions, along with the sentence starting with “The”, shift the mood quickly, and make the speaker seem unprepared and vulnerable towards death.

The last stanza’s of the poem describe the speaker after death. Dickinson stops at her grave, describing it as a “House”. By doing so, she makes her grave feel comfortable and welcoming, something which death in this poem would give to her. The dirt, “swelling of the ground”, coffin lid “roof” and grave stone “cornice” are also mentioned to help suggest the house metaphor to the reader. The next line “ ‘tis Centuries…Feel shorter than the Day” tells the reader how time flies by now that Dickinson is dead. The poem concludes with “I first surmised the Horses Heads Were toward Eternity”, “Eternity” being the religious after life. By saying she “first surmised”, Dickinson is suggesting that there is no afterlife and that she was misled by religion. The last line creates a lot of ambiguity to what Dickinson means and

The theme of death is explored thoroughly in Dickinson’s poem. The personification of death as a civil and kind gentle man is a very unique way to approach the subject. Dickinson’s metaphors which are used throughout the poem help create vivid imagery such as her unprepared death, and the grave/house. And her clever use of language help her shift the mood at quickly and dramatically and ultimately make the poem what it is.