Themes of Death and Immortality in Emily Dickinsons...

Throughout Emily Dickinson’s poetry there is a reoccurring theme of death and immortality. The theme of death is further separated into two major categories including the curiosity Dickinson held of the process of dying and the feelings accompanied with it and the reaction to the death of a loved one. Two of Dickinson’s many poems that contain a theme of death include: â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop For Death,† and â€Å"After great pain, a formal feeling comes.† In Dickinson’s poem â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death,† Dickinson portrays what it is like to go through the process of dying. According to Mark Spencer of the Explicator, the speaker portrays death as a two-step process. It is said that this particular poem makes more sense if read†¦show more content†¦The speaker has no fear as she rides in the carriage of death (Engle). According to M.N. Shaw, death is seen as a three-step process in this poem through the images of the â€Å"School,† â€Å"Gazing Grain,† and â€Å"Setting Sun.† Shaw believes that the school children â€Å"in the Ring† are representative of competition among professionals that occur during one’s career. Shaw also believes that the speaker views life with gusto and through great control. The break between stanzas three and four is important. The â€Å"reversal† or â€Å"uncertainty† in stanza four (â€Å"Or rather-He passes us†) has been thought to refer to the sun, implying that the sun has set on the dead speaker. â€Å"He† could also be referring to Death and the speaker’s fight with Death. The speaker leaves the carriage of Death shivering aligned with the previous cycle of life. This is when the previous cycle of life takes on eternity. As the speaker stands in the school yard with the children and refers to the â€Å"Grazing Grain† and the â€Å"Setting Sun,† she is attempting to find he r place in the universe and aware of the fact that when she dies a part of her will continue to live (Shaw). In Dickinson’s poem, â€Å"After great pain, a formal feeling comes,† Dickinson portrays the feelings and actions that come following a death. In this poem the speaker describes a state of mind that comes upon someone after experiencing a loss. Throughout this poem readers see the various stages of death and the feelingsShow MoreRelatedSolitude Of A Poet By Emily Dickinson1545 Words   |  7 Pageslanguage skills through her unusual poetry, becoming one of the most recognized and widely studied poet today. Born in December 10, 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson was one of three children to Edward Dickinson and his wife, Emily Dickinson. 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