With the interpretation that death should not be feared, one can proceed to interpret how other devices in the poem cooperatively create this effect. In the second stanza the whole carriage ride seems to be relaxing. By using words such as “slow,” and “no haste,” something that is in no hurry, implies that both the passenger and death are relaxing in the carriage. The unhurried and slow carriage ride contributes to the calm tone. Moreover, the speaker says that she is willing to leave behind her life of “labor,” and “leisure,” just for deaths “civility.” Dickinson uses imagery and portrays “labor” and “leisure” as being the two components that make up life where labor is the work, and leisure is the time apart from work. Dickinson then uses diction and expresses death as “civil,” something that is polite. Through imagery and diction, Dickinson conveys how she is willing and comfortable enough to give up her life because death is put into a positive light by describing it to have “civility”. In the second stanza, the whole journey seems to be pleasant contributing to the calm tone. The second stanza also puts death in a positive light reaffirming the message that death should not be feared.
In the third stanza the calm tone proceeds to help enhance the meaning of the poem. The speaker is reminiscing about her life. When the speaker says, “We passed the school where children played,” Dickinson uses imagery to depict her life as a child when she used to play. The image also has a positive connotation of children enjoying their time. Moreover, when the speaker says, “We passed the fields of grazing grain,” Dickinson again uses imagery to depict her adulthood. “Grazing Grain,” depicts an image of grain being ready to be harvested, showing that they are becoming adults. By using the word “grazing,” which connotes to be looking at something with pleasure, it expresses that she is looking at her life in a positive light. Additionally, when the speaker says, “the setting sun,” it connotes to be to close and final stage to any period, which in this case is her life. In the whole stanza, instead of mourning over how she is loosing the life she had, she “gaze[s],” at it. The whole stanza depicts a slow carriage ride going through each stage of her life, thus contributing to the calm tone. In the third stanza we can clearly see through the diction, that even as the sun is “setting,” the journey is still pleasant thus contributing to the calm tone. The speaker is still not putting death in a negative light conveying the message that death should not be feared.
In the fourth stanza Dickinson uses imagery to depict a grave. When the speaker says,” the roof was scarcely visible,” something that cannot be seen, it illustrates the image of the top of a tombstone. Moreover because it is part of the “ground,” one can infer that the location is underground. Dickinson then uses a metaphor and describes this grave as a “house.” A house has positive connotations of being warm, comfortable, and safe. This contributes to showing that the speaker should not fear death because death will not harm her or make her feel lonely. In this stanza, though the journey of her life is about to end, the idea of death is still put into a positive light by describing her grave as a “house.” The positivity contributes to the calm tone and highlights the message that death should not be feared.
In the final stanza, it is evident that the speaker is dead because she says, “since then,” it has been “centuries,” which refers to when she was alive in the actual world. Moreover, the speaker says, “Each feels shorter than the day.” Through this phrase, it is clear that the speaker is alive because she still “feel[s]”. Also it is clear that Dickinson seems to be pleased with her afterlife because when time goes by quickly, it implies that one is enjoying their time. Dickinson uses diction when the speaker says, “each feels shorter,” which clearly shows that time is going by so quickly that it felt as if the day was shorter. Furthermore, when the speaker says, “[the] horses heads were toward eternity,” Dickinson clearly depicts an image of horses willing to go towards eternity. If she feared death and feared the after life, her horse would not face “towar[d]s,” it but away from it. Additionally, the last word “eternity,” which connotes to be a timeless state into which the soul passes at a person’s death, clearly shows that she had no reason to fear death, because it was “kind,” enough to let her continue her life in the spiritual world. This stanza exemplifies how death should not be feared because we live for “eternity”. Even after her death, she still views death in a positive light, contributing to the tone, and complementing the meaning of Dickinson’s poem. Through the use of literary techniques in all five stanzas, Dickinson expresses a journey to death, and conveys that death should not be feared through a calm tone.
Through diction and tone, one can clearly see Dickinson’s views on death. By the literary techniques in each stanza, one can clearly see that death is being put in a positive light. Dickinson evidently expresses that death should not be feared but should be welcomed because death is not the end. We have to come across death at some point in life showing that it not escapable. It is better to accept the fact and not fear this inevitable event in our life. It may be come upon us unexpectedly like it did in this poem, but it should never be feared for because we live for “eternity.”