Summary and theme of the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” written by Emily Dickinson

 About the poetess : 

Emily Dickinson was one of the eminent women writers, a famous poetess, of the nineteenth century America. The three prominent themes – love , death and immortality – recur in majority of her poems. Her poems are unique in theme and her way of life was  incomparable. Strangely enough, in her youth she accepted the sequestered life, a total recluse, and she never returned to her father’s home. Like a priestess she dressed in white clothes, almost stopped receiving any visitors and even put an end of her relationship with the church .

 

 

 

 Stanza – I ( Line 1 to 4 )

 

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

Summary : In the first stanza the poet has expressed her relationship with death and the way of her acceptance of it. Death is presented as a gentleman who has stopped for the poet with all generosity and so the poet is ready for going with him.  Death here is like a gentleman suitor taking his lady for a trip in his carriage. Immortality also accompanies them.

 

Stanza – II ( Line 5 to 8 )

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
 

Summary : Death the gentleman has no hurry. The poet is ready to give up her labour and leisure ,  that means all the wealth in this world, gross enjoyment and mundane interests and wants to bid farewell to this world. She is charmed by the civility of death.

 

Stanza – III ( Line 9 to 12 )

 

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

 

Summary : The carriage moves smoothly with the poet and very soon passes  the school. They have a glimpse of the children who are playing joyfully in the open place. Soon the chariot passes the fields of grain which are gazing at the carriage, as if, sending them off. They also pass the setting Sun.

 

Stanza – IV ( Line 13 to16 )

 

Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

Summary : The poet says that the Sun passes them i.e. the poet is now out of the bourne  of this world. Now she feels chill cold of the dews, the quivering sensation. It is because of her thin and fine dress, for  Gossamer, Tippet and Tulle.

 

Stanza – V ( Line 17 to 20 )

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

 

Summary : Now the poet has arrived to the destination with death and they pause before a house which looks like just a mound on the earth. Naturally, the roof of the house is not visible and the cornice is in the ground.

 

Stanza – VI ( Line 21 to 24 )

 

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –

 

Summary : The poet says that centuries have elapsed here but she feels such a vast time is shorter than a day. It is the house of eternity . The poet now can remember that the horse’s heads were towards the eternity when the journey was started.  

Theme of the poem :

The poem  “Because I could not stop for Death” of Emily Dickinson deals with death and immortality. Death is a fearful term to human beings, it is a painful realization and the very sound of it creates a macabre sensation in mind. But in this poem the poet looks at death from  different angle. Death is very common matter and known to every  sensible person as it is witnessed in the very life of men. Death is not something alien, it is rather a part of human life.  Death is the most true incident in the scheme of life which is limited to time and place. It is uncertain,but the most certain i.e. death must come but no one knows when it would come. However, the poet is not at all afraid of death, not the least anxious for its approach. She rather welcomes death as the great benefactor in her life , the 'welcome relief ' from all cares, anxiety and tension. Only death can take one to a finer world beyond this temporal existence , a world devoid of frets and fever, trials and tribulations, of every day life. This greater  world is the world of 'Eternity'. So the poet has given up her all labour and leisure of this world and she is ready to accompany death in his chariot, as if, for a pleasure trip with the gentleman suitor. Death is portrayed as the most perfect and solemn guide of human being on the way of 'Eternity'. This theme is reminiscent of a famous expression of the  Nobel Laureate R.N.Tagore : " Maran re tunhun mama shyama saman" (in Bengali). The English rendering is : " O Death, thou art equal to the great lord Krishna". The supreme achievement of our life is the lap of God (Lord Krishna), the celestial refuge, and it is possible only through 'Death'.

The poetess of recluse has established a firm relationship with death in her life time and for this she can visualize the scene after her death. She would be covered with gossamer and tippet which are common funeral dress of women. She can feel the afterlife in the grave, the quivering and chill sensation. These are insignificant to her, as she is going to eternal world to live for thousands years, not like the inconsiderable few years in this temporal world. Mr. Death is a gentleman who shows all civility before the poet and who is not in a hurry.Such a treatment of death with the poet is indicative of the magnanimity of death and the magnificence of the other world. The world of 'Eternity' is not bound by time and for this the poet has corrected her and says : "Or rather - he passed us -"(stanza iv). It is the Sun who passes the poet accompanying death, not the poet passes the Sun ("We passed  the setting sun") .

Three images presented by the poet in the third stanza augment the thematic value of this poem.These are the playing of the school children, the field of gazing grain and the setting sun. If we consider the literal meaning of it, the three images indicate the natural route of the funeral procession, first come the school of the children which is  generally situated at the end of the village, then come agricultural field from where the grains silently witness the last journey and then comes the crematorium or the graveyard, the place where darkness,like the time after setting the sun, starts. In another perspective these three images seem to represent the three stages of life -  the childhood, the prime (youth and maturity) and the old age. The meaning is that we can attain death only covering these three stages of life and set pace for eternity. The playing of children 'At recess in the ring-' manifestly indicate the measureless enjoyment in the stage of innocence of childhood. Field of grain stands for maturity and  the completeness in life which one attains in grown up stage. The setting sun obviously symbolizes the old age, the period of twilight in human life, the starting point of darkness. However, the calm acceptance of death with all serenity and optimism by the poet is the main theme of the poem and universal message to the readers to come.