Comparing Dickinson's Tide Rises 'And The Tide Falls'
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In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls,” one subject they both address is death. The main point of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” that Dickinson is trying to get across is that we shouldn’t be afraid of death since it happens to everyone. The main point of “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” is that life is a cycle and it doesn’t stop. The difference between these two poems is that Dickinson portrayed death as a person and Longfellow shows that death can show up at any time.
When Dickinson wrote “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” as a mature writer in 1884, her attitude towards death is that it’s kind and gentle. “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me.” This shows that Dickinson personifies death as a kind gentleman and shows us she didn’t have a choice that she died. “And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, for His Civility.” This illustrates that Death was kind that she put away all those things to concentrate on him. These are Dickinson’s feelings towards Death; that he’s kind and wasn’t in a rush to get to wherever they were going, he was pleasant and respectful to those who die.…show more content… “The curlew calls…The traveler hastens toward the town; And the tide rises, the tide falls.” The curlew is foreshadowing that death is coming for the traveler as he tries to run towards town – which is life. “The day returns, but nevermore Returns the traveler to the shore And the tide rises, the tide falls.” In this quote, Longfellow illustrates that as the traveler was going through life, death snuck up on him and took him, but even though he has died, life will still go on around for others as the tide rises and