Emily Dickinson's Poetry

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Emily Dickinson had the same recurring theme in her poems: death. Her poem “Because I could not stop for death” not only reflects that, but also shows how her writing differed from those of the poets of her time. The poem is not actually titled “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” Dickinson left the poem untitled. It was one of the many poems she wrote that were unpublished. However, it may also be titled “The Chariot.” It “is generally considered to be one of the great masterpieces of American poetry” (Source 2). Its themes are abstract human ideas, and she is able to capture light on them perfectly. Many people think of her as an immature writer, yet she was able to effectively approach the most difficult of themes to master. The main themes…show more content…
He plays as the chaperone for the woman and Death. Which, of course, Dickinson would have needed as well during her time, considering she remained unmarried all of her life. “Thus begins one of the most famous examples of personification and figurative language in American literature” (Source 2). All of them remain as people throughout the poem. They pass playing children during their ride, along with many other things, which are all reminders of her human life. It is a slow ride. It can be said that she lived a long life. It would explain why she leisurely recounted her life with Death: her life was long and peaceful. “The woman describes their journey with the casual ease one might use to recount a typical Sunday Drive” (Source 2). It is eerie because that can be expected of a funeral procession as well. It can be inferred that her death was recent because of the funeral procession- feel and her obvious ignorance of the identity of the man who is next to her. “In the end, through a brilliant use of hyperbole, or intentional exaggeration, the woman insists that all centuries that have since passed have felt ‘shorter than the Day’…show more content…
She had a quiet life with not much to do every day. As she never truly published much work, she did not feel the need to actually finish. Even the poems she did manage to finish, many times remained unnamed, just as “Because I could not stop for death” remained unnamed. "Her traumatized state of mind is believed to have inspired her to write prolifically: in 1862 alone she is thought to have composed over three hundred poems (Source 3). She never married, and therefore stayed with her parents her entire life. She came from a wealthy family, and never had the need to communicate with others. Her own neighbors would create rumors about her: they mysterious woman whom never left her home. She had to deal with the deaths of many people she loved: close friends, lovers, family members. However, her poems were only shared between family and old school friends (Source 4). She was not satisfied with criticisms her poems received when they were published, so she did not make them public. Since the few times she would share her poems with the media of her time resulted in having her poetry drastically altered, she decided a close group of people around her would be the best audience she could have. "Although Dickinson wrote some 1,800 poems, only seven of them were published in her lifetime, and those were all greatly altered by editors who did not
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