文学赏析文体学

Because I could not stop for death

Emily Dickinson

Abstract: Because I could not stop for death ---One of the most significant poems of Emily Dickinson in terms of the subject of death, one of the most famous works of Emily Dickinson. Free and easy feeling presents Emily mediation about death exploration to life and desire for eternity.

Key words: death immorality mediation

Introduction:

The poem mainly focuses on two poems: death and eternity. Traditionally, death is blood curdling; however death is imagined to be gentleman in this poem who connects with immorality. It reveals the clam acceptance of life with dignity grace and how it is welcomed rather than feared.

Analysis:

From the phonological level, the whole poem with four feet iambic and three feet iambic appears an alternate layout, and the rhyme is not strict. This is not in strict rhyme, contrasting to the traditional model of the rhyme of poetry creation, which reflects Dickinson creational rebellion and modernity. It is irregular stanza rhyme using the hymn like meter and slant rhyme from the first & third lines and second & fourth lines, which uses respectively eight and six syllables. Each line syllables vary from unstressed to stress in first& third and second &fourth. The mood of the poem change indicating poet feeling towards death changes .In addition, she also adopts the internal rhyme, The rich use of poem rhyme is around of changes, increasing the beauty of the musicality of poem to read catchy, adding the language of poem appreciation value and giving the reader a unique aesthetic temperament and interest. At the graphological level .the poem adopts the unorthodox use of the punctuation, using the twenty dashes instead of a common or period. Showing that the poem is never ending, just as eternity is never ending. Meanwhile, unusual capitalization is used in poem .slowing the readers down, making us pause to consider the word rather than breezing through paper. Finally, personification is used in poem repeatedly. Death is thing not too feared but to embrace. Alliteration is adopted persistently. Examples are as follows: labor and leisure, recess and ring, gazing and grain, setting and sun, dews and dew and so on .At the same time, metaphor is put into the poem to show a life journey. In the third stanza, the writer writes about three seemingly unrelated images: playing children, gazing grain and setting sun. In fact, the three images come together to create profound meaning. Children represent young ages, while grain productive and fertile years of one’s life. Setting sun, old age and end of life, which works a process to review dying memories and displays lifelong journey. An overview of a lifetime is stretched in front of eyes, which implies the passage of birth, growth and maturity and death. Eternal life is left behind and I head towards death without yearn. This once again highlights death gentleness and consideration.

Conclusion:

As a 19th century of women poet, Emily leads us to the unknown world of death. She pictures when walking towards death and shows us with immorality in soul. Death is nothing to be feared since it is natural part of the endless cycle of nature .Death is only the beginning because to die is to go on another journey. Although death takes one away from the earthy world, there is still something to look forward to when one dies---Eternal life, which shows her unprecedented deep research for death in life and progressive thinking. We might not believe in immortality, but we should appreciate her manner when death comes.

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