Because I Could Not Stop For Death In Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Emily Dickinson paints

a delicate portrait of death. In living her life, the departed paid no heed to death s call until her time to pass on arrived. !he carriage spoken of is the hearse that slo"ly and serenely picked her up for her final voyage. #aving no need to hurry and paying little heed to time, the hearse slo"ly navigated its "ay through time. $ost likely the mood in the hearse "as solemn out of respect for the deceased, so the manner "ould have %een of utmost dignity. !he hearse gently negotiated its "ay through the to"n, passing different scenes of everyday life that the dead had kno"n. &t last, the hearse came to stop in front of an earthen grave "here the dirt "as delicately shoveled out in a pile ne't to the hole. !o the dead, the dirt had the image of a cornice, or roof, "hile the hole in the earth "as its ne" home. !he poem concludes that "ith the deceased reflecting %ack through the years of eternity to the day of death "hen the horse s destination "as the eternal rest that death %rought. In the poem, each (uatrain features a different aspect of the deceased s life and )ourney to"ards eternal rest. !he poem opens "ith the dead %eing introduced to the solemn ride of a hearse. Instead of possessing a fear of death, the deceased takes note of the polite manner in "hich the carriage takes its time and does not hurry off to the cemetery. &s the ride proceeds, the slo" pace in "hich the carriage moved displayed that the death carriage *+kne" no haste* ,line five- and that the deceased respected his patience %y not moving or doing anything they "ould have liked to do. In the third stan.a, the stages of life are revealed. !he youth of the dead is correlated to *+the school "here children played+* ,lines eight and nine-. &s the funeral procession passed *+the fields of ga.ing grain* ,line eleven-, the years of "ork "ere relived. Finally, as they passed the setting sun, the elder years of the deceased s life "ere revisited. !he final stan.a calls for the reader to pause and recogni.e )ust ho" short life really is. !he deceased encourages the reader to take advantage of the time living %ecause death does not "ait for life. !he theme of this poem is one of the solemn realities of life and death. Dickinson encourages the reader to en)oy the time they have %ecause death, though offering serenity and peace, flies %y "ithout any regard to time.