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.

Different types of thirst in Eugene O' Neill's play Thirst

Literally, thirst means a state or feeling of one when one wants to or needs to drink water. Extending the meaning we can say thirst is a strong desire or yearning for something. In Eugene O' Neill's play different kinds of thirst become prominent from different angles which  can broadly  be categorised into three heads: Thirst of human beings on-stage, Thirst of nonhuman beings in sea and Thirst of human beings off-stage.

Thirst of human beings on-stage : On the stage we find no other than the three woebegone passengers who are under tremendous pressure of thirst for water and thirst for rescue,in a word thirst for life. How can the thirst for survival belittle the thirst for wealth and that of carnal need is conspicuous in the behaviour of the Negro Sailor.  With the idea that the Sailor has some water hidden with him the Gentleman incites the Dancer to offer  her diamond necklace worth five thousand dollars to the Sailor for a sip of water.The Sailor who is strangely silent and continuously  crooning turns down the offer though the Gentleman confirms : " I have heard his people are very fond of such things."  Now the Dancer , at the cost of her honour and dignity , offers the Sailor her beautiful body . The Negro's response to the Dancer's amorous gesture  is like this: " For a second his nostrils  dilate - he draws in his breath with a hissing sound - his body grows tense and it seems as if he is about to sweep her into his arms. Then his expression grows apathetic again. He turns to the sharks." So, thirst for life gets the first place and it overpowers the thirst for wealth and sex  . Actually, non-availability of water and the least chance for rescue ship excruciate them most, beyond measure.

Thirst of nonhuman beings in sea : The nonhuman beings in sea, the voracious sharks, are led by their thirst for food and  are moving round the life raft, projecting their sharp fins.These animals somehow understand that something on the raft, may quench their appetite. Led by instinct, not by the order of preference and importance, the sharks move round the raft and ultimately, getting  the dead body of the Dancer and later that of the Gentleman and the Sailor quench their thirst and leave the place.

Thirst of human beings off-stage : The thirst of human beings off-stage is not directly attached with the action of the play but definitely affined to the catastrophe of the three passengers on the raft . They are no other than the readers or the audience having an acute thirst in their minds yearning for the rescue of the three passengers .They seem to visualise a God-sent rescue ship or a suddenly discovered island full of sustenance. Undeniably, every reader is empathetic enough to pray God for the survival of these three helpless. This type of thirst is quite common in human beings.

Only the thirst of the sharks, the nonhuman beings in sea, is fulfilled because of its very nature. There is no impropriety in this type of thirst as food is the basic need of living beings. Impropriety and improbability are there  in the expectation of these shipwrecked passengers as well as the readers for the very catastrophic situation of the life raft on the vast sea beyond the human territory which is, as if, beyond the notice of God. 

    

A Brief Summary Of Eugene O' Neill's Famous Play Thirst

                            

The Dramatist

Eugene O' Neill ( 1888 - 1953 ) was an American Dramatist who wrote about 50 plays . ‘Thirst’ , a one act tragedy that bears the testimony of Neill’s efficiency and potentiality was published in 1914 . O’ Neill’s forte is tragedy and his tragedies are more concerned with the deeper psychologic matters of human life . Some social issues like racial biasness , capitalist exploitation , oppression etc. are manifested in his literary creation . A sense of insecurity is resonated in some of his plays . It is likely for the instability in his boyhood when Neill had to accompany his father James O’ Neill on  long acting tours . The tragic vision of life of Eugene O' Neill was shaped as he had to undergo a number of shocking experience in his early life . This prolific dramatist Eugene O' Neill was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936 . 

Brief Summary 

After a shipwreck  three passengers: A Gentleman, A Dancer and A West Indian Mulatto Sailor somehow manage a steamer's life raft. The raft is floating on the tropic sea in extremely hot , writhing atmosphere, far out of the beaten track of steamers. The Dancer and the gentleman are extremely tired and thirsty, but the Sailor  is a little better of them. On the still surface of the sea some fins of sharks are seen surrounding the life raft. The Dancer who is in the middle and the Gentleman are engaged in talking while the West Indian Mulatto in blue uniform of a sailor croons a  monotonous negro song which the Sailor says a charm to control the sharks. The Sailor's round eyes follow the sharks' fins cutting circles around the raft. They are extremely thirsty: "How my throat burns!" says the Gentleman. Gradually they  lose their physical strength, mental power and hope for rescue. Though the Mulatto Sailor is the companion of same misfortune, the other two suspect that the former had stolen some water and kept it  hidden under his jersey and for occasional drinking the Sailor is stronger than them. They call him name with severe dirty terms like thief, pig, murderer etc. establishing the instance of dominating behaviour of the White over the Black. 

The Gentleman and the Dancer  are desperate to have some water from the Sailor. The Dancer offers the Sailor her diamond necklace of five thousand dollars for a little water. Being a failure she offers her beautiful body as the cost of a draught of water, but of no avail. The  scorching heat, terrible thirst and horrible pelagic atmosphere gradually snatch their sanity. The Dancer, almost in a frantic way starts dancing on the raft, tears  down her dress and the Gentleman plays the role of orchestra by clapping hands. The Dancer  dies and her almost naked body lies on the raft. Seeing the dead body the silent Sailor with all anthropophagous nature sharpen his knife and says:  "We  shall eat. We shall drink." The Gentleman makes out that the sailor is going to be a cannibal very soon  but he does not allow it and pushes the dead body into the sea. The Sailor stabs the Gentleman who falls backward in the sea, but somehow clutches the jersey of the Sailor who also plunges headlong after the Gentleman. All the three who were on the raft are now in the water and at the mercy of the sharks. This gluttonous creatures which were waiting for such a long period quench their thirst and leave the place. The raft is floating in the silent sea with the diamond necklace on it sparkling. 

  The flashback of the play provides us with some information  
about the wrecked ship  and about  the  getting of these three 
passengers on the raft. They were in the salon of the ship and 
a concert  was going on.The   Gentleman says that the Dancer 
was singing a song. A woman beside the Gentleman was prais- ing the unparalleled beauty of the Dancer :"How pretty she is ! I wonder if she is married ?" Everybody of the assemblage was in a gay mood and suddenly the tragedy happened. All present there were thrown forward on the floor of the salon due to the massive jerking of the crash. Screams. oaths and fainting started following a stampede. The Gentleman says that he was on the deck fighting in the midst of the crowd for a place on the life-boat. He somehow managed a place on a boat but it was swamped because of being overloaded. He swam to another but the passengers on that boat hit him with the oars and he failed to get on it. That boat was also swamped. Something huge rushed by the Gentleman who understood that it was a shark. He became livid with terror and swam desperately beating the cold water with hands. He suddenly found a white thing before him, he clutched it and climbed on this raft. No, not in normal position ,he fainted then, moaning ... The Gentleman says : " It is strange that you and he should be on a raft alone when so many died for lack of a place." The 
Dancer could not say anything about her rescue on this life-boat :"Everything in my memory is blurred."She only provides the information that  the Second Officer of the ship, the tall handsome young Englishman, loved the dancer and he kissed her. The Gentleman becomes certain that it was the Second Officer who tried to save the life of the Dancer and placed her on this raft.