Simple analysis of the poem “Because I could not stop for Death”

臧海芳

【Abstract】 The American female poet——Emily Dickinson （1830-1886）is unknown to the world when living； Most of her themes are： religion， death and immortality， love and nature. Since the mid-1950s， people have been studying her poetry from different wide and deep perspectives.This paper narrows the topic one of her major themes——death and immortality from the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” from traditional literary theory.

【Key words】Emily Dickinson； death and immortality

1. Introduction

American female poet——Emily Dickinson （1830-1886） and Whitman are unknown to the world when living. Both them belong to true in theme and technique. American poets bring “American Renaissance” to America.Their influence shows in different ways.Their poetry in technical terms， both add to the literary independence of America by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and show a freedom in form unknown before： Whitman， free verse； Emily， capital letters， dash， fresh image， etc. Most of her poetry is a natural flow of personal feeling and experience.

2. Emily Dickinson

Indeed， she was unknown， just like “nobody” described in her poem.When she was living；after she had been dead for 30 years， she was esteemed as a pioneer of imagists； dead for 70 years， her 1775 poems had been issued gradually. Up to this， she has gained a high position in the poetry garden. Her poetry is valuable not only to American literature， but also to the world.

Dickinson was born in a small town of American Massachusetts and most of her time lived there. Her father was a lawyer.She was independent and intelligent .But she was shy and afraid of facing the outer world. She seldom leaved her fathers house.

Dickinsons poetry was a clear record of her aesthetic， religious and social ideas. She expressed feelings of deepest poignancy in terms of wit， and often in an aphoristic style. Her poems are short， fresh and original with her own characters.

Comparing her contemporary poet——Whitman， her poetry covered only a small scope of topic， but with her own particularity.Most of her poetry is a natural flow of personal feeling . The themes of her works include religion， death and immortality， love and nature.

3. Simple analysis of the poem “Because I could not stop for Death”

In Emily Dickinsons poetry world， human life is described as an abyss of mystery and agony that is full of various losses， among which， dearth is a permanent theme. It will happen to everyone. It was said by Thomas Grays in his “Elegy written in the country churchyard”：endprint

And all that beauty， all that wealth eer gave，

Awaits alike th inevitable hour，

The paths of glory lead to the grave.（Gu Zhengkun，2000：64） Death and immortality is the ever-lasting theme of poetry.It is so to Emily Dickinson. The largest portion of her poetry concerns death and immortality. The subjects of her poem come to her careful observation of life.

Emilys many friends death shocked her， which add her gloomy emotion. “My life closed twice before its close” depicted that she prepared for the coming of death whenever.

Dickinson lost herself twice when her “tutors” left her， Benjamin Newton in1853 and Wadsworth in 1862. Newton was her fathers student， who introduced her to Emerson and other literary influences and ultimately to poetry.Emily may have loved Wadsworth in her imagination： it was an emotional turmoil， which may have sparked her frenzied poetic creativity in 1864.She treated death was astonishing. Sometimes she was an outsider， observing death， for example， in “As imperceptibly as Grief”， the poet saw that the elapse of summer is the symbol of death， which shows us “Death comes as imperceptibly as Grief and Marks the beginning of a higher life.” Sometimes she was observing her own death such as “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died”“and then it was/ There interposed a fly-/ with Blue -uncertain stumbling Buzz-/ Between the light -and me-/And then the Windows failed- and then/ I could not see to see-”. She seemed to have thought of death， constantly she probed death daily. Dickinson believed that life was a beginning and that death was also a beginning of a new life.Dickinson believed that death led to immortality.Her contemporary poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote that spirits led to immortality： “Life is real！ Life is earnest. And the grave is not its goal…departing， leave behind us footprints on the sands of time.”（A Psalm of Life） .So does she. “Because I could not stop for Death” is a representative poem Emily wrote about death and immortality. It is not only the reflection of her life but appearance of emotion.

References：

[1]常耀信.美國(guó)文學(xué)簡(jiǎn)史[M].天津：南開大學(xué)出版社，2003.

[2]辜正坤.英文名篇鑒賞金庫(kù)（詩(shī)歌卷）[M].天津：天津人民出版社，2000.

[3]陳愛敏.英美詩(shī)歌賞析[M].北京：北京廣播電視大學(xué)出版社. 2008.endprint