Question

How do the settings of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" and "Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church" differ

Answer 1

The setting, defined as the time and place for a story to take place, differs in "because I couldn't stop for death" and "Some keep the sabbath going to church".

In the former, the poet is taken by the character of death on a trip towards eternity. Death is impersonated by the driver and the carriage, on which the poet rides along with inmortality. The poem takes the reader through a series of scenarios including: a school at recess time, fields of grain, passed the setting sun and ultimately what seems to be a tomb on the ground.

In the latter, the poet explains why she stays at home during sabbath instead of going to church. In the poem, she describes how the choir is replaced by a bobolink and a sexton, both musical birds in her garden. She argues she doesn't wear any special clothes because "her wings" are enough to be out in the "orchard". In the poem, God himself, as the clergyman, is said to give a sermon making her feel in heaven.

Answer 2

Traveling in the former represents a journey toward death, while the setting of the latter shows that the speaker is well grounded.