In the poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Emily Dickinson uses personification,

alliteration, imagery, and symbols to convey the journey of death. In the first stanza Death and

Immortality are personified. In the quote “Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped

for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality”, she uses ‘he’ to personify death

and describes him in a kind manner. This makes it seem like she is at peace with death and not

afraid to die. She also talks about bringing Immortality on the ride with them, giving the sense

that she is ‘getting rid’ of immortality and knowing that she cannot live forever. In the second

stanza, “We slowly drove He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility” she continues to talk about Death in a gentle way by using phrases like “he

knew no haste” and “his civility”. This shows that Death is willing to drive slowly so that she

can take her time on the journey to the end of life, possibly giving her time to reminisce. The

author also talks about putting away labor and leisure which gives the poem alliteration.

Alliteration is usually used to give emphasis to certain words that may be important. In this

context, it seems labor and leisure are big parts of life since they are the only two things she puts

away on the journey. Throughout life we work to achieve something and when it is achieved we

get to relax and have leisure time. Since she is putting these two things away it is seen as a

message that she is ready to leave these things behind as she heads towards death. Alliteration

can also be seen in the third stanza when the author uses imagery to describe her journey. “We

passed the School, where Children strove At Recess in the Ring We passed the Fields of Gazing

Grain We passed the Setting Sun”, here alliteration is used to show the different stages of her

journey such as the the “school” where children “strove”, the kids at “recess” in a “ring”, the

field with “grazing grain” and the “setting sun”. The author gives emphasis to these images to

show their symbolic meanings and importance to the journey. The children playing represents
the beginning of life as you are a child starting the first stage of life. The children are also

described as playing in a “ring” which could be a symbol for the circle of life. The field

symbolizes growth and maturity as the grain begins to grow, and lastly the sun setting alludes to

the end of a cycle (life). This stanza also gives the idea that life still continues after death. The

children playing will grow up and continue life, and the sun will rise again. The poem then takes

a shift as the author goes from this peaceful ride to a dark tone. “Or rather, he passed us; The

dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, My tippet only tulle” In this stanza

the author realizes she is dressed in sheer clothing and that it is cold outside. Her realization to

this so far into the poem shows that she had been in sort of a ‘trance’ in the beginning. This may

have been due to the fact that Death was treating her in a respectful manner and showing her

cheerful places. In the fourth stanza she moves on to describing a house as “swelling” and

“scarcely visible”. With these negative connotations it seems her ride has taken a dark turn after

seeing the sun set and she is now realizing that she may regret her ride. She isn’t okay with

Death anymore because it is a cold place of darkness that was at first disguised as peaceful.