becauseicouldnotstopfordeath分析.pptVIP

“Because I could not stop for Death-” It is considered to be one of the great masterpieces of American poetry. Written around 1863, it was published in her 1st posthumous collection, Poems by Emily Dickinson, in 1890. 1 Stanza 2nd Stanza 3rd Stanza 4th Stanza 5th Stanza 6th Stanza Style It is made up of 6 stanzas. Like many of her poems, it uses a traditional meter, often found in hymns and nursery rhymes, called common meter. Quatrains written in common meter have alternately 8 and 6 syllables to the line. The poem’s lines are arranged in iambs. Style She felt it unnecessary to use exact rhymes, and adapted conventional rhyming patterns to new use. The 3rd stanza has no conventional rhyme, but gets its rhythm from the repetition of “We passed” and the alliterative sounds in “Gazing Grain” and “Setting Sun.” Still, though “away/civility” in stanza two is not a rhyme; the sound pattern is echoed nicely in the final quatrain with “Day/Eternity.” Style In the 17th and 18th centuries, common English nouns and other content words were often capitalized. Dickinson probably adopted this out-of-fashion form to strengthen the intensity of meaning. Style D is noted for her unusual handling of punctuation. She uses dashes both at the ends of lines and between phrases, which has been the subject of much critical study. It is generally believed that she, who did not typically follow the rules of grammar, used dashes to indicate how words, phrases and clauses should be interpreted. Themes Cycle of Life The structure of this poem is linear, but the images that describe what is seen in the carriage ride, however, all suggest that life is a cycle. The cradle-to-grave motion is not a straight line; instead it brings us back to where we started from. Death Dickinson’s treatment of the subject is worth noticing. Death is portrayed as a gentleman, and therefore he is responsible for following the rules of courtship that a gentleman calling for a lady would have to follow. One re