Throughout the past few weeks, I have read numerous poems by Emily Dickinson. In reading her poems, I have gained insight about her views on death and her observations on life. While searching for meaning within her poetry, I realized that Dickinson never approaches a topic—such as death— from just one side. She reveals different facets of a central theme and subtly shows her views on topics in her writing by mixing up her tones, emphasizing the importance of certain things by capitalization, and using vivid imagery.

Dickinson’s poems did not fit the conventional poetic rules of her time. As a result, editors who read her poems would try to make them more accessible to a contemporary audience. They changed the writing to have standard punctuation as well as putting them in an order to enhance predictability. What these editors did not realize at the time was that Dickinson wrote her poetry in an ambiguous way for a reason.

By writing with more complexity than the traditional writers of her time, Dickinson causes the reader to become engulfed in her writing by trying to uncover hidden meaning. Often times, this leads the reader to question his or her own beliefs. Two of the main themes in her poetry are death and immortality. In the poems “Because I could not stop for Death-“ and “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died”, Dickinson poses two contradicting insights of afterlife and leaves them up for interpretation of the reader.

 In both poems, Dickinson speaks in first person to describe her own death. She does this to immerse the reader in the situation. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the insight given is that no person is ever ready for death, yet it happens anyways. When death does come around, it leads us to eternity, and our life on earth is miserable compared to this eternity. In contrast, in “I heard a Fly Buzz-when I died”, the message the reader receives is that nothing spectacular happens when we die. We become as insignificant as a fly. Throughout her life, Dickinson struggled with the idea of an afterlife. Although she was raised as a Christian, she portrayed her doubts about an afterlife in her poetry.

Dickinson uses many literary elements in her poem “Because I could not stop for Death-”. One of the most obvious is the personification of Death. She always capitalizes this word and refers to it as “he”. She describes Death as being kind, civil, and patient. Dickinson personifies Death in order to portray her trust in Death that it will bring her to eternity.

The poem “Because I could not stop for Death-” contains a rhyming pattern in every stanza. This rhyming melody keeps the poem upbeat and lighthearted. Also, alliteration is utilized in this poem to create internal rhyming within certain lines. Two examples of alliteration are, “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-/We passed the Setting Sun-” (12-13). The alliteration in these lines cause these two objects to sound delightful and happy.

The tone of the poem drastically changes in the fourth stanza. While previously speaking of all the things she is passing by on her way to eternity, suddenly, she switches to say that these things are now passing her. She realizes that she is now losing these things, such as the setting sun. The line “The Dews grew quivering and chill-,” causes the reader to feel cold and empty (14). This stanza uses a more somber tone to portray how Dickinson suddenly becomes overwhelmed in her loss of everything she has ever known. She then continues to the last stanza, returning to an uplifting voice and accepting that she is now happily in eternity. 

 Dickinson’s poem “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” takes on a more depressing tone. Unlike the previous poem, the main focus is no longer on Death and the promise of a joyful eternity. Instead, the focus begins with Dickinson on her deathbed and then deviates to a trivial fly in the room.

The metaphor in the first stanza, “The Stillness in the Room/Was like the Stillness in the Air-”, sets up the scene by delineating a room at a stand-still while Dickinson is on her deathbed about to die (3-4).

Personification is used in the second stanza when describing the eyes and breaths of those who stood around Dickinson’s deathbed. She says, “The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-/And Breaths were gathering firm” (5-6). The use of personification here gives the reader an image of what the people were like at this moment. They had shed many tears, and were now anxiously waiting for her spirit to be taken to Heaven.

Anticipation grows in the third stanza when Dickinson says she “signed away” her body and waits for something miraculous to happen. Then, “There interposed a Fly-” (12).

In accordance with its intention, this line completely throws the reader off. The focus switches to the Fly with “-uncertain stumbling Buzz-”. This description of the fly causes the reader to feel very unsteady as does the last line “I could not see to see-”(16).

Dickinson meant for the reader to feel shaky by the end of the poem. After reading such a depressing example of someone’s expectations of death being shattered, the reader is then forced reconsider their own thoughts on an afterlife. These strong thoughts are what cause this poem to be very effective.

After reading many of Dickinson’s poems, I have learned what an amazing and moving poet she is. She causes the reader to ponder certain topics while articulately describing specific scenarios.