Today, many people view death to be frightening and intimidating. Emily Dickinson, who was also known as Lady in White because of the way she dresses, had a different perspective of death. Emily Dickinson wasn’t much of a social person and as time went by, Emily Dickinson’s personality gradually changed. She started to fear the outside, which was known as agoraphobia. Throughout her life, Dickinson was overshadowed by plethora amount of deaths. Her favorite cousin and nephew, her mentor, and both of her parents died. She also suffered from depression and anxiety. Emily Dickinson talks about death and nature in her poems. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” was written in 1863 and is mainly about how Death is portrayed as …show more content…
Topic Sentence 1:
Dickinson uses slant rhyme to emphasize her points and to induce the readers to pay close attention to the words themselves rather than the sounds of the words.
1. In her poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, she gives an example of a slant rhyme when she writes, “He kindly stopped for me- / The Carriage held but just Ourselves- / And Immortality” (2-3).
• It emphasizes that Death is a person and that there is someone else in the carriage with them. When Dickinson wrote “He kindly stopped for me”, she was referring to Death as a kind person. This authenticated that she thought death to be welcoming. It was an illustration of a slant rhyme because the words, “me” and “immortality” were close to rhyming.
2. Dickinson also portrays slant rhyme in her poem when she inscribes, “And I had put away / My labor and my leisure too, / For His Civility” (6-8).
• This excerpt accentuated that she is giving up for Death’s politeness and courteousness. This excerpt was clearly an example of a slant rhyme because the word “away” and “civility” sounded similar.
3. Finally, she depicts slant rhyme in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” through, “The Dews drew quivering and chill / For only Gossamer, my Gown- / My Tippet-only Tulle- …show more content…
In her poem, she applies symbolism when she writes, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves-” (3).
• The carriage was a symbolism of Dickinson’s journey to her grave and her afterlife.
2. Another example of a symbolism that she used was, “We passed the Fields of Grazing Grain” (11)
• According to biblical terms, grain is a symbol of prosperity and life. In this case, it meant departing from her health and life and heading towards death. Also, it could have represented her middle age.
3. The line, “We passed the Setting Sun” (12) also portrayed symbolism.
• The phrase, “Setting Sun” had a few different interpretations. First of all, it could have symbolized no hope because when the sun is down, there is nothing but darkness; and darkness refers to pitch black. It could also have meant the closing eyes of the deceased. Lastly, it could have referred to her old age.
4. The last example of her utilizing symbolism in her poem was through the line, “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads” (23).
• Since a horse’s head is long and angled forward, it could have symbolized an arrow that was pushing through the barrier of life and death.
5. Concluding Sentence:
Consequently, symbolism was used numerous of times throughout the