Why Did Emily Dickinson Write The Poem…?
The poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson expresses the speaker’s reflection on death. The poem focuses on the concept of life after death. This poem’s setting mirrors the circumstances by which death approaches, and death’s ton appears kind and compassionate. It is through the promise of immortality that fear is removed, and death not only becomes acceptable, but welcomed as well. As human beings, we feel that death never comes at a convenient or opportune time. When Dickinson says, “Because I could not stop for Death,” she causes the reader to ask why she could not stop. The obvious answer is that she was so wrapped up in her own life that she did not think about death. Emily Dickinson can be seen as eccentric (my view) or as psychologically unbalanced or even crazy (less tolerant views). For example, from her late teens through her twenties she adopted the more childish spelling of her name, “Emilie”; her letters repeatedly express the wish to remain a child.
