Emily Essay, Research Paper
Emily Dickinson dresses the scene such that mental pictures of sight, feeling, and sound
come to life. The imagery begins the moment Dickinson invites Her reader into the
“Carriage.” Death “slowly” takes the readers on a sight seeing trip where they see the
stages of life. The first site “We” passed was the “School, where Children strove” (9).
Because it deals with an important symbol, ?the “Ring”?this first scene is perhaps the
most important. One author noted that “the children, at recess, do not play (as one would
expect them to) but strive” (Monteiro 20). In addition, at recess, the children performed a
venerable ritual, perhaps known to all, in a ring. This ritual is called
“Ring-a-ring-a-roses,” and is recited:
Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We?re all tumbled down. (qtd. in Greenaway 365)
Monteiro made the discovery and concluded that “For indeed, imbedded in their
ritualistic game is a reminder of the mortal stakes that the poet talks about
elsewhere”(21). On this invited journey, one vividly sees the “Children” playing,
laughing, and singing. This scene conveys deep emotions and moods through verbal
pictures.
The imagery in the final scene, “We passed the Setting Sun,” proved very emotional (12).
One can clearly picture a warm setting sun, perhaps, over a grassy horizon. The idea of a
setting sun, aftermath a fact of slumber in a cold dark night. When Dickinson passed the
“Setting Sun,” night drew nigh and it was time to go home and sleep. Symbolically, Her
tour of life was short; it was now time for “Eternity”?death. While sight seeing in the
carriage, one can gather, by the setting of the sun, that this ride was lifelong. It is evident
that death can creep up on His client. In example, often times, when one experience a
joyous time, time seems to ?fly?. In the same respect, Emily Dickinson states “Or
rather?He [the Setting Sun] passed Us?” (13). In this line, one can see how Dickinson,
dressed for the “Day,” indicates that a pleasant time was cut short (15,16). Before She
knew it, the cold “Dews drew quivering and chill”(14). The imagery in this transcendent
poem shines great light on some hidden similarities between life and death.
This poem exercises both the thoughts and emotions of its reader and can effectively
change one?s viewpoint of an eternal future. Eternity and Death are two important
characters in Emily Dickinson?s “Because I could not stop for Death.” In fact, eternity is
a state of being. Dickinson believed in an eternity after death (24). Agreeably, one can
say that Emily Dickinson?s sole purpose in this poem is to show no fear of death. Emily
Dickinson?s poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” will leave many readers talking
for years to come. This poem then, puts on immortality through an act of mere creativity.
Indeed, creativity was captured at all angles in this striking piece.