Because I Could Not Stop for Death

The poetic speaker of “Because I could not stop for Death” describes a mysterious carriage ride she takes one day. The horses move slowly at first as “Death” (Line 1) drives and the speaker sits with “Immortality” (Line 4). As Dickinson reveals, the carriage’s destination is both the speaker’s grave and eternity. Therefore, the carriage has two meanings. Literally, this dreamy carriage ride is a poetic description of a hearse taking a coffin to its final resting place. More figuratively, the carriage symbolizes the soul’s journey through time after death as well as the journey of life during an individual’s time on earth.

That the other passenger in the carriage is “Immortality” (Line 4) reveals Dickinson’s curiosity about the afterlife despite her ambivalence towards the eternal life and salvation that organized religion promises. In the context of this poem, “Immortality” (Line 4) rides towards “Eternity” (Line 24) with the speaker of the poem, but the speaker gives no indication of where immortality sits within the carriage or if immortality, like death, takes a human form. The only clue that suggests immortality is personified is present in the collective pronoun “Ourselves” (Line 3). This small mention offers the reader a hint about the speaker’s interest in immortality, but it invites more questions about the speaker’s

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