Death and Emily Dickindon
...n the fourth stanza, the narrator is steadily dying to the world that only he/she knows; all he/she can do is hear. The narrator hears a bell toll and then he/she is alone in silence all by himself/herself. In the sixth and final stanza, the coffin is being lowered six feet below the ground. The narrator is trying to understand what is happening to him/her. As soon as everything is beginning to make sense, the narrator’s death is complete. The last word of the poem is “-- then --“; the narrator cannot expand on what will occur next, because he/she does not know, and will never be able to explain it. Emily Dickinson's view of death as portrayed through this poem is terrifying, yet intellectual. The narrator is slowly coming to the realization that he/she is dying, yet through Emily’s writing style, the reader sympathizes and understands the intellectual thought that is occurring in the narrator’s mind. Through the intellectual thought process of the narrator, the reader no longer sees death as terrifying, but as something that will occur to everyone. The second poem, “I died for Beauty -- but was scarce,” is about two cadavers which are entombed beside each other. One died for truth, and the other died for beauty. These two ideas, beauty and truth, are seen as comrades or brothers. The two corpses talked to each other until the moss grew wild over their mouths and covered up their names on their gravestones. Emily Dickinson’s view of death is that of friendship. As long as one is not alone in this world, or in death, everything will turn out well; death is courteous. The reader also gets the feeling that there is no life after death. Death is not viewed as morbid or frightening, but as a purpose: for truth or beauty. Emily Dickinson’s third poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” is a story of progression from life to death. In the first stanza, death comes to her, like a gentleman caller for a date. In the second stanza, they are driving slowly, because of a funeral procession. The third stanza symbolizes three stages in life: “School, where Children strove” (9), childhood; “Fields of Gazing Grain --” (11), maturity; and “Setting Sun”(12), old age. The fourth stanza, she becomes very cold; she has a gown and a cape made up of thin, cobweb, net-like fabrics. These open-like coverings may suggest that she has transparent, spiritual qualities. In the fifth and sixth stanzas, the carriage is gaining altitude for their ascent into eternity, heaven or hell. She notices that a house seems as “A Swelling of the Ground --” (18). From the viewpoint of eternity, she is recalling experiences that happened on earth centuries ago. She attempts to relate the eternal world to the mortal world by stating that “Centuries” (21) in eternity are “shorter than the [earthly] day” (22). Emily Dickinson’s view of death exemplifies a life after death. This poem illustrates the stages of life to include death and eternity. The reader momentarily catches a glimpse of an afterlife. Emily Dickinson’s fourth ‘death poem’ is, “I heard a Fly buzz -- when I...