Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Death is an uncontrollable fate that prevails in the end. However in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickenson, a woman tries to stall her destiny. Before reading the poem, the audience might think that since the woman cannot stop for death, death will stop for her ready or not. After reading, the suspicions are proved correct and death ultimately triumphs. The woman is surprised on how mild death came and it how politely leads her into a carriage. The carriage guides her on a tour while time still goes on. She passes by a school where people are just starting their life while she is lead to the end of hers. While the sun is setting, the carriage at last stops at its final destination. She gets out and she doesn't believe what is around her. She thinks it is a house which is decaying in the ground, but it is really her sepulcher. Many hundred years later, time has passed and even the children that she saw on her way to grave has grown old, died, and been replaced with new children. In the end of the poem, the woman reflects on her death and realizes that even though she did not want to die, now that she did, she will live forever. Death was just another obstacle for her to overcome. Throughout the poem, Dickenson weaves an array of symbols, personification, and alliteration to set the grim yet carefree tone.

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