Introduction
The poem “Because I could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson argues that modernism has to do with uncertainty. The writer fails to enlighten people of anything. In this poem, Dickinson uses uncertainty to emphasize on the events happening in her world uniquely (Panzera 47). Since she uses poetry as a means to observe and question the trauma of human existence, the uncertainties do not make sense and calls for criticism.
The Criticism of Human Form
One of the critics of this poem is that the speaker, the woman, narrates the situation after her death. Readers cannot understand why the narrator personifies her death as a considerate and gentleman who invites her in a carriage for a romantic journey. On the contrary, she ends her expedition having discovered that her death had occurred so long ago.
Readers can critic Emily Dickinson's technique of using death as a human form. The writer did not give a physical description of death and allowed the reader to apply their imagination to yield a physical description of death. By using this imagination, the writer makes death understandable to the reader (Spencer 96). Like the woman, the speaker rides in a carriage, she faces immortality and death. In essence, Dickinson argues that death represents the nature of one-self, whereas immorality represents the woman’s spirit and soul.
The Criticism of the House
The other point of criticism is the writer's decision to mention a house at the end of the story. The word “house” may draw a lot of literal meanings. For instance, the term “house” may refer to the tomb constructed by the Romans along the road or may refer to the woman’s fear of being forgotten within the society. At the end of her poem, Dickinson concludes that there is no escape of death because of it a carriage ride that leads to eternity. The argument though maybe criticize biblically, Dickinson personifies death as if it was human supported in the line “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me “(Dickinson 56). Besides, personification, she uses other stylistic techniques such as rhythm, vivid imagery, and metaphors to explain the various event that death and hers go through.
Tranquillity in the Journey of Death
History deems death as harsh, brutal, and tougher experience, but to Dickinson, Death is a gentleman. Readers are confused by this irony, which is supported by the second stanza, where the woman begins a slow and peaceful journey with death. The readers can see the tranquillity of the journey they are going through. The writer, at this point, understand the ultimate focus of the scene in which she is completely lost and forgets about everything in life. In her descriptions, the word “leisure” refers to her freedom, whereas the word “labour” defines her struggle in life.
From this personification of death, one may begin to question the needs of wearing a light “gown.” Dickson is depicted to have worn a cape and a light gown as a costume attire for her funeral. “We paused for a house that seemed a swelling of the ground,” which describes the death house that can be related to the tomb on the ground (Dickinson 65). Even if she feels like she had died for more than a century, her death is shorter than a day.
From this point of view, learners can vividly see that Dickinson has realized that she is dead. The term she uses like she first summed the horse head reveals the end of her journey as she strives for eternity.
Criticism of Obsession
Readers can also question the writing styles used by the writer. The poem comprises six quatrains which do not give any consistent rhyme scheme. For instance, the lines in the poem beings with strong beats and finishes with a weak beat. The fourth line and the second line do not have any consistent meter, but the third and the first lines have iambic tetrameter in each stanza.
The writer's obsession with her focus is one area that calls for criticism. The concept of death, as portrayed in this poem, confronts its grim reality with the refusal to be comforted, curiosity, humour, and honesty. The poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death” explicitly examine the concept of an afterlife, death, and Dickinson’s obsession with melancholy.
The readers can easily see the uncertainty about the writer's encounter with death. Dickinson is timid about death to the extent of not allowing death to stop for him. Readers can develop doubt on this statement. The gravity of the subject is further fueled by personifying death.
The other aspect that draws a lot of criticism is the naivety of the narrator. The readers are briefed about an adolescent lady who quits her worldly activities and avails herself to spend some quality time with her boyfriend (Dickinson 56). What the lady could give to her boyfriend was on leisure and labour, not for anything but his politeness.
From this perspective, readers can understand the three stages of life, namely death represented by “the setting sun,” youthful stage represented by “the field of Gazing Grains,” and childhood, which is symbolized by “Children strove.” Even though the stanza that captures this information gives clues about the dying world, Dickinson cannot understand that she is dead. In her thinking, Dickinson observes the daily setting of the sun.
Personal Opinion
I agree with the concept of infinity. Since the unified features about death never end and is very determinate. However, the alternative course of action does not need to comply with earthly standards. Dickinson argues that infinity elapses indeterminate time that even centuries seems shorter as a day (Dickinson 56). However, a reader will realize that the integration of the superior being and the physical universe is not covered in these lines (Spencer 95). By addressing the existence phases of the earth, people shall get ample time to reconcile her time on earth and understand every aspect rising from superior consciousness both figuratively and literally.
I agree with Dickinson concept about the stages of life; namely, death is represented by “the setting sun,” youthful stage represented by “the field of Gazing Grains,” and childhood, which is symbolized by “Children strove.” (Spencer 95). In the current world, a person, after being born, grows, marries, and die. Thus, it is simple as after death, there is no more stage, which, in my view, is infinite.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the personification of death as a gentleman is something that calls for criticism, since it is uncertain. Death cannot make a person happy rather. It is associated with sorrows and any forms of evils. Death compromises honesty and humour, making Dickinson's arguments as leading the readers into a ditch. Thus, the poem begs for criticisms that cannot be ignored.
