Dickinsons Life Cycle Emily Dickinsons Because I could not stop for Death is a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown. In Dickinsons poem, Because I could not stop Death, there is much impression in the tone, in symbols and in the use of imagery that over flow with creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone and use of symbolism in Dickinsons poem.Dickinson uses controlling adjectives slowly and passed to create a tone that seems rather placid. For example, We slowly drove He knew no Haste / We passed the School / We passed the Setting Sun (5,9,11,12), sets a slow, quiet, and clam atmosphere. The tone in Dickinsons poem puts readers ideas on a track towards a boggling atmosphere. Dickinsons poem lives on complex ideas that are evoked through symbols, which carry her readers through her poem. Besides the literal significance of the School, Gazing Grain, Setting Sun, and the Ring much is gathered to complete the poems central idea. Dickinson brought to light the mysteriousness of the life cycle. The cycle of ones life, as symbolized by Dickinson, has three stages and then a final stage of eternity. Schools, where children strove (9) may represent childhood; Fields of Gazing Grain (11), maturity; and Setting Sun (12) old age. In addition to these three stages, the final stage of eternity was symbolized in the last two lines of the poem, the Horses Heads (23), leading towards Eternity (24). Dickinson thought about the life cycle in terms of figurative symbols.Dickinson describes the scene such that mental pictures of sight, feeling, and sound come to life. The imagery begins the moment Dickinson invites her reader into the Carriage (3). Death slowly (5) takes the readers on a sight seeing trip where they see the stages of life. The first site We passed was the School, where children strove (9). Because it deals with an important symbol, -...
