Question

In Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," death is personified. What sort of person is he? What might this tell us about the speaker's attitude toward death?

Answer 1

Answer:

Death is a kind, civil man. The speaker's attitude is one of acceptance.

Explanation:

In Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," the speaker's description of death shows her attitude toward it. She uses personification, talking of death as if it were a man. According to her, he is a gentleman: kind, civil, who has no haste whatsoever.

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility

Such description of death is an indicative that the speaker has come to terms with it. She accepts death as something natural. She puts her labor and her leisure away when death comes, accepting that it is her time to go from this life. Even though later in the poem she feels the coldness of her new abode, the grave, immortality is now her companion.