A Date with Death, Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

Only Emily Dickinson can turn Death into one of the great charters in American poetry. In the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", Death is a suitor come to pick up his date. Emily Dickinson show's her view on death the afterlife with this poem. This poem introduces us to something new, instead of the journey of life; it is the journey of death. This poem also shows Emily Dickinson's own view on death and the life after death.

The journey begins in the first stanza when Death stops to pick her up. "Because I could not stop for Death-/ He kindly stopped for me-" (1-2) famous first lines which has such an impact. The woman with her busy life is only stopped by death. These first few lines really hit the modern times. Everyone seems to always be on the go, texting away or on their cell phone, and no one seems to have time to stop and just enjoy life. So with almost an enthusiastic feel so is glad that death has stopped for her. She is taken by his kindness and seems to fully accept this suitor and their journey. In lines three and four you find there is a passenger as well on this journey, "The Carriage held but just Ourselves-/ And Immortality." (3-4) Immortality is their chaperon on this strange date. A chaperon often accompanies a suitor and his date. So to have someone accompany then it was not so odd but who it was is. Immortality and ironic chaperon looking at the living and at deaths courtship, making sure all goes well. The carriage carries the three along. The woman seems unaware of where she is going but seems to be calm by the two men is accompanied by. This may shows the view of how Emily Dickinson might have felt about her own death one day, being so calm accepting that one day life just comes to an end. Although in this poem death is a journey that this girl is being taken on. This could be the way that Emily Dickinson sees life and death, she sees them both as a journey that we go through.

Continuing on into the next stanza we hear more about the woman's journey. "We slowly drove- He knew no haste" (5), it may feel slow to her but time is irrelevant to the dead and time really is only a concept of life. She still unaware of her death, feels that there is time still going on. But the carriage continues on and so does the poem. She speaks of her life within the next few lines, "And I had put away/My labor and my leisure too," (6-7) an ironic line she states that she has put away her labor and life for him. But the man being death has really taken that stuff away from her. Death takes away everything from us and yet she feels she is giving all this up on her own freewill. She continues on to say that she did it all "For His Civility-" (8) She does it for his kindness, in her eyes. To this woman Death is kind and civil and treats her well, he is a good suitor. She appears naïve or maybe just overly accepting of death as this point in the poem. This date she has with death is starting to become a bigger journey then she ever expected. This stanza can show Emily Dickinson's view on men and how she respects a kind man like how the woman does so much for a kind man, who is death. This can also show her view of time being something we focus a lot on in the living world.

She gives us a view of her journey which she sees from the carriage ride within the next stanza. The journey resembles a look within her own life. It resembles a life passing before your eyes moment some claim you have at the end of ones life. It starts out with a view of children, "We passed the School, where Children strove/ At Recess- in the Ring-" (9-10). Children can almost represent a more innocent time of her life. It can represent her own childhood. Continuing on in to the next lines , "We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-" (11) The grain a representation or a fertile part of life and or a more productive portion of her life. This would be youth into adulthood portion of her life she is spotting outside her carriage ride. Then comes death, "We passed the Setting Sun-" (12), the sun setting means the end of the day and the end of her life. This whole stanza collectively is showing her the journey of her life as she is taking this carriage ride to her death.

Continuing on from her last statement she continues about the sun in stanza four, "Or rather-He passed Us-" (13). This statement of that sun must have passed us is almost reversing her first claim. This might be that she is confuse of her state, she is starting to realize her death. She then talks about her state "The Dews drew quivering and chill" (14). She is beginning to feel a chill. Is this the chill of death she is feeling? "For only Gossamer, my Gown-/ My Tippet-only Tulle" (15-16), her dress is formal and light. She is dressed her best for her date. But can also be looked at as being dressed up for her funeral. Most people in their caskets are dressed in something formal to be presented well for their loved ones to see one last time.

As the poem comes towards its last few stanza the carriage starts to come to the end of their destination. "We paused before a House that seemed/ A Swelling of the Ground-" (17-18), the house is most like her grave and the swelling of the ground is the freshly unearthed soil from her burial. The fact that she calls her own grave a home finally connects her to death, she has finally realized own death. A grave really is a home to the dead this is their final resting place and something they have to call their own. So a house would be a perfect name for a grave. She continues on describing the house, " The Roof was scarcely visible-/ The Cornice-in the Ground-" (19-20). This just continues to show that the house is in the ground and that is a grave. This is the end of her carriage ride and the end to her date.

The last stanza tells the finality to the story and of her. "Since then-'tis Centuries-and yet/ Feels shorter then the Day" (21-22), again a mention of time. The time does not matter again because whether it was a day or century her journey has finally come to an end. "I first surmised the Horses' Heads/ Were toward Eternity-" (23-24), she has finally reached the end, if any doubt she had it is now gone. She has now realized that she has died and is off to eternity into her grave.