"Because I Could not Stop For Death" Analysis

Because I Could not Stop For Death

By Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death -
He kindly stopped for me -
The Carriage held but just Ourselves -
And Immortality.

We slowly drove - He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility -

We passed the school, where Children strove
At Recess - in the Ring -
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain -
We passed the Setting Sun -

Or rather - He passed us -
The Dews grew quivering and chill -
For only Gossamer, my Gown -
My Tippet - only Tulle -

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground -
The Roof was scarcely visible -
The Cornice - in the Ground -

Since then - 'tis Centuries - and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmissed the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity -

In this poem, the poet often replaces punctuation marks such as periods and commas with a "-" instead. This may mean to take a very deliberate pause rather then continuing onward like a sentence as one would do with period or comma. Dickinson uses very calm, relaxed diction in this poem, to represent how she feels about death as a part of nature. For example, "I first surmissed the Horses' Heads..." (EDickinson) Surmissed suggests a relaxed realization, not one would expect from realizing that she has indeed died.
The meaning of this poem is that death should be accepted as a natural part of life. Dickinson gives Death an anthropomorphic representation in this poem, which creates a less frightening view of it. Rather than taking her forcefully, he "kindly stops" for her. The third stanza represents her memories. The schoolyard is her childhood, the gazing grain is her adulthood, and the setting sun is her old age and death. And finally, as the setting sun passes them, which represents her new life in death. Her "house" is a "swelling of the ground," which is a grave.