The first stanza of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" describes the gentleman caller who appears in order to take the speaker with him in his carriage. This caller is Death personified.
As readers of this poem peruse the stanzas, they realize the gentleman caller is Death. He appears to the speaker in the form of a man, but the mention of the carriage containing only the speaker, driver, and Immortality indicates the driver's...
The first stanza of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" describes the gentleman caller who appears in order to take the speaker with him in his carriage. This caller is Death personified.
As readers of this poem peruse the stanzas, they realize the gentleman caller is Death. He appears to the speaker in the form of a man, but the mention of the carriage containing only the speaker, driver, and Immortality indicates the driver's role: he is transporting the speaker from her earthly house to the "House" that seems but a "swelling of the ground" with a scarcely visible roof. In other words, Death is carrying the speaker through her life to its end, the grave. As they ride, the speaker views her youth as the children playing at recess in school. She then views the "Fields of Gazing Grain" that represent her maturity into womanhood. Finally, they pass "the Setting Sun" as she reaches the end of her life.
In the final stanza, the speaker addresses her audience from the grave as she recalls her realization that her caller was transporting her "toward Eternity."
No comments:
Post a Comment