...Essay #1: Dickenson, “Because I Could Not” 565 As I read “Because I Could Not” by Emily Dickenson I was extremely confused because when I first read the title I said to myself “okay a confusing poem about sad love” but as I read the first stanza I said to myself “this has NOTHING to do with love, but yet still confusing” I tried breaking down each line, looking up unfamiliar words, and reading aloud about 10 times and still no clarity came to mind. Finally I read it once more to my roommate and BOOM! It hit me. The first stanza of “Because I Could Not” is about a journey to death. It’s describing the process of human life and how Dickenson finally encountered death. With the help of narrative codes and my procedures in breaking down the poem, I was able to understand “Because I Could Not” much more clearly than when I first read it. The first line, “Because I could not stop for Death, (1)” really puzzled me as I began to read this poem. Then Dickenson says, “He kindly stopped for me, (2)” which personifies death. The third line states the word carriage, which is where Dickenson used a connotative code. As I read the poem and I went back to break down the fist stanza carriage didn’t seem to fit in as just a regular carriage or vehicle. Carriage means the kind of vehicle that people use to escort coffins to funerals, a hearse. In the first stanza another code being used is the antithetical code with the expressions “Death” and “Immortality. Both words are the only capitalized...
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...An Issue Of Confidence I haven’t written in quite a while, and that was because either I got lazy or because I thought things were getting better. I’ll be honest. Nothing is getting better. For one, there is a girl I currently like. The friendship, relationship or what ever you want to call it began on the Internet, and when I see her in person, I cannot even muster the courage to talk to her. My shyness, and confidence issues really are beginning to hinder any social progress for me in this world. The thing is that she might be one of the few girls that I’ve ever liked, and I do not want to screw this up. When I’m in her vicinity, I begin to become extremely self-conscious. I think about my face, my hair, and my breath, just about everything. I only think about the negatives but not the positives. Sometimes I ask the question, how can she possibly like me at all. I don’t find my self to be handsome, and I know for a fact that she is extremely beautiful. Tomorrow her and some other people are coming to my house, and I do not want to mess up again. Should I try my best to overcome my shyness? I know that if I do start talking to her, I will scrutinize everything I say, and become extremely nervous if I think I’ve made a mistake. I don’t think I can possibly survive in the ”real world” if I do not overcome these confidence/shyness issues, because its becoming quite extreme so I’m hoping that from now on I can do something about it. I have no one to seek advice from, tomorrow...
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...In The poem “Because I could not stop for Death“ by Emily Dickinson, the speaker tells of her journey with Death and Immortality. Death is portrayed as a gentleman suitor. This gentleman stops to pick up the speaker and take her for a leisurely and relaxing ride in a horse-drawn carriage. The speaker is comfortable with Death, she is not afraid nor does she beg for more time as they pass through the town where she has lived her life. Along the way she see children playing, fields of grain and the setting sun. It is a peaceful ride. The speaker describes Death as civil as he travels with her towards eternity. Although the speaker in the poem could not stop for death on her own and the poem is about the speaker’s own death, she is not fearful or hesitant to follow Death to her resting place and then on to eternity. In her poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” Emily Dickinson uses personification, imagery, and symbolism to tell of a woman’s peaceful journey from life to death and then to eternity. In this poem the first literary element that Emily Dickinson uses is personification. She personifies death as a male gentleman who comes calling on the speaker. Death is described as being kind as well as having civility and patients. Death is introduced in the poem right at the start. The speaker says, “He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson, 1863, line 2). He does this because she was unable to stop for him. He then takes her on a slow drive through the town where she lives. The...
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...Emily Dickinson The poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson is based on several cognitive metaphors, for instance: life is a journey or life is a cycle. They are expressed explicitly; life ends with a journey through all the destinations enumerated in the poem; it has a start and the final point. Also life is a path, because they follow the path and at its sides they observe different things and people. The metaphor life is a day is expressed by the lines “we passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting Sun”, where, obviously, the first image means young ages and the second one is about the old ones. This metaphor is widely used in folk texts and in both Russian and Ukrainian languages there are correspondences e. g. на закате своих дней. The pattern purposes are destinations suits this poem because the person dies but this process is described as moving to the other place. The image of the HOUSE is important for the poem. It symbolizes a coffin, or the final destination, or the end of the journey. This complex image renders the beliefs that the dead live in their world under the ground, because only alive people need a place to live. It is interesting that in this poem Death is addressed like “he”. It reveals the difference between American and Ukrainian concepts: for us death is a woman and for them it is a man (or for this particular literary text). One of the possible interpretations is that men tend to destroy everything. Here it is...
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...In the poem "Because I could not stop for death", Emily Dickinson talks about her acceptance of death as something inevitable that comes to her and she has no control over it; although she seems confused about being alive or dead as she keeps narrating. In the first stanza, when she says" I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me", she’s not ready to die but accepts the fact that it is a natural thing that happens to all human beings, and comes at its own time, no matter what you are doing or where you are it will come and take you, to which she seems content with. She personifies death as if it was a kind gentleman, or her groom that comes to pick her up and take her away in his carriage on a pleasant ride; she also realizes that ironically someone else is riding along with them, Immortality—looking at it in a positive way. It is also interesting to point out how she separates death from immortality, when she says “The carriage held but just ourselves—and immortality”. She seems excited about her journey with her two companions, and feels so pleased by this gentleman’s courtesy that she gives up her distress and freedom to enjoy it –when you are dead, there are no more troubles and no more leisure time. She feels happy with her exchange of life for death’s civility. It now seems that she wanted to die sooner but couldn’t, and death came to her but in slow form as if she was ill. She doesn’t realize where she is headed as he drives the carriage away slowly, with...
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...Lucious Annaeus Seneca once said "The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity." When one dies they spend eternity in either heaven or hell depending on what they believe. This quote relates to the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson because they both say that death should not be scary, with death comes spending eternity in heaven. Dickinson describes her journey with death in this poem. Readers benefit from Dickinson's poetic voice through the theme, content, and literary devices that form a beautiful poem. The theme throughout the poem is that death should not be as scary as people make it seem. When someone dies, they spend eternity in heaven if they have a relationship with God. The last two lines in the poem say "I first surmised the Horses' Heads were toward eternity." So they were headed toward eternity in heaven. As said in 1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and life in his son." So when one has Jesus in their heart they have eternal life in him. This relates to the poem's theme because if one knows where they are going to spend eternity, death is not as scary. Emily Dickinson used many literary devices to enhance her poem. For example, death is personified throughout the poem; she made death seem to be a person. In the poem she says "He...
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...Something I thought I could never do “You can’t do this. You are not strong enough. Do it again, and again. Again, until it is perfect, for me, not anyone else. Become stronger, show everyone they were wrong!” I repeatedly say this in my head until I can finally pull myself together to prove what I have. Someone once told me that I could not do what those other girls could, that they were better than I was, that it will take a long time for me to become as good as they are. Moreover, you know what I did. I had proved them all wrong. I proved them wrong with anger, fear and courage. I was ready to become great! My head was pounding. My heart was pumping. My ears were raging with steam. My eyes were blood shot red. I had felt every emotion of anger that night. So many familiar, and unfamiliar faces of athletes who were turning my hopes into nightmares only to satisfy their hunger of feeling in control just because they are better than I am. “I wouldn’t try that trick, you don’t have the skill composition for this high level of skill”, one girl told me. “Watch me” I spat. More and more girls kept coming at me with discouraging words and I did nothing but stand my ground and use my words like a bullet to think I am achieving some kind of control for myself. I stood there with the thoughts of their comments repeatedly in my head, still with rage coming from within me. With everything I had, I ran across the blue mat, left foot propped up, and arms next to my...
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...The Meaning of Life Analysis of the poem” Because I Could not Stop for Death” from Emily Dickinson “Because I Could not Stop for Death” is a poem written by the famous American poet Emily Dickinson in nineteenth century. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Because she did not care about being famous or getting benefit from her writing, only 7 of her poems got published out of 1775. In 1886, after she died, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a famous American writer collected her poems and published them in 1890, but most poems got changed. Till 1995, her poem was collected by Tomas Johnson and changed back to what they were. Tomas Wentworth Higginson thought her poem showed her specially understanding of nature and life, she had the deepest, and creative insight. Death, Eternal, and Love are three important theme of Dickinson’s poems. Dickinson was good at observing, and detailed describing. Most of her poems were from her experience and her own feeling, and her poems could give readers a usual and deep feeling. She was one of the greatest and effective female poets in nineteenth century. Her poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death” was famous of the distinctive understanding of Death. Dickinson’s understanding of Death was so distinctive and meanwhile, the poem was full of Philosophy. The poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death” was short but veiled. The whole poem contained of 24 lines, 6 verses, and 4 verses made 4 lines of the poem. Dickinson combined Death with formal elements...
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...‘BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH’ – Emily Dickinson Summary Death, in the form of a gentleman suitor, stops to pick up the speaker and take her on a ride in his horse-drawn carriage. They move along at a pretty relaxed pace and the speaker seems completely at ease with the gentleman. As they pass through the town, she sees children at play, fields of grain, and the setting sun. Pretty peaceful, right? As dusk sets in our speaker gets a little chilly, as she is completely under-dressed – only wearing a thin silk shawl for a coat. She was unprepared for her impromptu date with Death when she got dressed that morning. They stop at what will be her burial ground, marked with a small headstone. In the final stanza, we find out the speaker's ride with Death took place centuries ago (so she's been dead for a long time). But it seems like just yesterday when she first got the feeling that horse heads (like those of the horses that drew the "death carriage") pointed toward "Eternity"; or, in other words, signaled the passage from life to death to an afterlife. Analysis Death OK, so death is not a new concept to us but Dickinson does a good job making it fresh and strange by having death take the form of a man. You might be tempted to think of the grim reaper, with his black cloak and dangerous-looking scythe (the curved sharp thing he's always carrying around), but, no, Dickinson's Death is a real smooth operator. He's the kind of guy who would hold the door open for his...
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...One Day I Could Never Forget Christina Behm COMM/215 09/01/2015 Glenn Dayley One Day I Could Never Forget There I was sitting in my car, rewinding the day in my head like a video on slow rewind. Today was my first day as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and I bolted through the doors excited about my new job, only to have been meet in the face with a stench that you could not deny that was of urine and feces. My first reaction was to throw up, I thought how can these people breathe in here? Do they change these people? Give them showers? Surely something had to be done about the smell. When I asked, I was told I would get used to it. To me, I didn’t understand why or how we could let our elders smell like that. If they refused a shower, then to me we should be giving them a bed bath. The patients needed some form of cleaning daily. I had 13 patients on my list to get up for breakfast and shower or bed bath before breakfast. I started on my list, only to find that if I wanted things done right then it takes a lot longer than the allotted time. So that means that some of the 13 patients that are awake in the morning more than half of them do not receive proper care. You are rushed from the minute you clock in until you clock out. Still not finishing everything that needed to be done. I finished with breakfast, one of my ladies didn’t get up for breakfast, so after breakfast I went in to check on her and I couldn’t get any response from her. I flagged down the DON (Director...
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...Because I Could Not Stop for Death English Summary Author: Emily Dickenson The piece I chose to analyze was a poem by Emily Dickinson called “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” She was a very famous writer and wrote many pieces concerning the topics of death and immortality. I believe that this poem was about her journey of life and a calm reflection of what death meant to her. For instance in her first stanza she writes “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.” I believe that this line states that death is inevitable. By saying that death kindly stopped for her, she refers to death as a patient gentleman waiting to take her further into the future. Also if death is the polite suitor, then immortality or the carriage would be the chaperon. Another example would come from the line “We slowly drove, he knew no haste, and I had put away my labor, and my leisure too, for his civility.” Meaning that her life is moving at an easy and unhurried pace, as she accepts deaths offer to accompany him. From this stanza I assume that the drive with death symbolizes her leaving life. In addition to the last line the stanza, “We paused before house that seemed a swelling of the ground; the roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound.” I believe she is referring to her grave as a house, which is another indication of how comfortable she feels about her death. In conclusion I believe...
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...“Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” “I Heard a Fly Buzz,” and “Death, Be Not Proud” speak on death. Emily Dickinson wrote both “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz.” John Donne composed “Death, Be Not Proud.” These poems, written over 200 years apart, show how people continually try to understand and process death. Dickenson and Donne used different rhyming patterns to express their thoughts on death. It seems that the only similarities that these authors share appears to be that they wrote about death and were both poets. Emily Dickinson wrote “Because I could not stop for Death” in 1863. Dickinson's poem was not published until 1890, twenty-seven years after it was written and 4 years after Dickinson died. Emily Dickinson spent her life living in isolation. Some consider this Dickinson's most famous poem. In this poem, Dickenson looks at death and the journey that “Death” goes on. Death passes a schoolyard, fields of grain, and the setting sun as it heads toward eternity....
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...In her poem “Because I could not stop for Death” Emily Dickinson uses allegory to represent the different stages of life. When the narrator mentions that he is the one who “put away [his] labor and [his] leisure” (Dickenson 765) for Death one could take this to imply that the narrator commit suicide; however the fact that death is mentioned to “[know] no haste” (Dickenson 765) suggests simply the fact that death comes when it will. The mention of laying aside both work and pleasure may also be interpreted as the fact that once we are dead, our bodies cease to do anything. The school full of children represents youth and childhood. Following that is the field of grain that represents maturation; just as grain grows and ripens in a field, a...
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...Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” surprisingly made me feel relaxed. It was a shocking poem that changed my perception on death. For my whole life I have always known death as a scary thing. I knew death as the thing that takes my loved ones away too early. But, Emily Dickinson describes death as a nice and calming occurrence. Emily Dickinson describes death as the person who takes others on their last journey before they cross over. The journey is filled with happy memories that they can take with them. The speaker says “We passed the School, Where Children strove” (9). Death is taking the speaker back to watch children play and be happy. The speaker also says “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain- We passed the Setting...
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...Most do not want to even think about death much less speak about it. The subject is many at times be avoided due to what it commonly corresponds with. Death is often portrayed to be a conclusion of life and is associated with having a dark or eerie vibe. In this poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Emily Dickinson gives a different illustration of death as having a rather sense of tranquillity and comfort to form a new beginning through the use of symbolism, imagery, and paradoxes. Death could be interpreted in a variety of ways, especially in literature. Thus making numerous ways to interpret this piece of literature, mostly depends on how the author wants the symbolism to be seen through the reader's eyes. In “Because I Could Not...
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