Poetry Analysis

Don't Fear the Reaper

In 1934 he took a holiday.  In 1976 the Blue Oyster Cult encouraged listeners not to fear him.  In 1991 he received a Melvin from the frontmen of the band Wyld Stallyons, Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan.  Although these examples cover roughly 60 years of history, they only manage to scratch the surface of the many ways in which Death has been pondered and personified by artists, musicians, and writers.  In fact, the poet Emily Dickinson has her own unique interpretation of Death, as evidenced by her poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.”  Rather than portraying Death as a harbinger of doom or a lovable clown, she depicts him as a polite gentleman caller who politely and peacefully escorts the narrator to the afterlife.

             

The depiction of Death as a gentleman caller is supported by Dickinson’s diction.  The poem opens with “Because I could not stop for Death / He kindly stopped for me” (lines 1 & 2).  Use of the word “kindly” indicates that Death approaches the narrator in a very gentle, pleasant, and benevolent way, as though she were a friend.  His gentle nature is reinforced by the line “We slowly drove, he knew no haste” (5), which infuses the poem with a sense of leisure.  Because Death is escorting the narrator to the eternal afterlife, he can afford to take his time, giving the impression that he and the speaker are enjoying a pleasant Sunday drive through the countryside.  Additionally, the speaker states, “I had put away / My labor, and my leisure too, / For his civility” (6 – 8).  The word “civility” further stresses Death’s good manners, which the narrator finds so pleasant that she sets aside her “labor” and “leisure,” the tasks that occupy her life, in order to enjoy his company.

             

As he escorts the narrator to eternity, Death’s journey takes the narrator through the familiar surrounding countryside.  She passes the school, fields of grain, and even the setting sun, pausing briefly to gaze upon a grave.  This journey is an extended metaphor symbolizing the progression of life from childhood to inevitable death.  The speaker says, “We passed the school where children played / Their lessons scarcely done” (9 – 10).  The imagery of the children playing in the school yard symbolizes the innocence of childhood – they are too preoccupied with their games and activities to pay any attention to Death’s carriage as it passes by.  However, the “gazing grain” (11) does notice the carriage, as indicated by the use of the word “gazing.”  Although the grain represents the fruitful period of adulthood when life is bountiful, it also represents the inevitability of the harvest.  As adulthood progresses, one becomes increasingly aware of one’s mortality - no longer can the passing of Death’s carriage be ignored.  The “setting sun” (12) signifies the “sunset years” of old age, which the speaker passes by on her way to the “house that seemed / A swelling of the ground” (13 – 14).  The “house” refers to the grave that provides the final resting place for the speaker’s body while Death’s carriage carries her soul “toward eternity” (20), guiding her to an eternal afterlife.

             

Not only does Death escort the speaker to her eternal afterlife, but he does it with impeccable grace and manners; he is the perfect gentleman caller.  In fact, the form of the poem itself supports Dickinson’s depiction of Death as the perfect gentleman caller.  The poem is divided into five stanzas of four lines each, with each line alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.  Iambic rhythm, which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, mimics the style of natural speech.  The regular rhythm occurs in steady beats, lacking any sudden pattern breaks such as those created by a trochaic foot, a pattern of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.  Trochaic feet often express great emotion, grabbing the reader’s attention, and variations in rhythm would emphasize specific words; however, the poem’s lack of a variegated rhythm infuses the poem with a peaceful tone.  In fact, the gentle rhythm of the meter recalls the driver’s lack of “haste” (5), and the gentle motion of the carriage rocking side to side as it progresses on its journey.  Additionally, the poem’s rhyme scheme supports Dickinson’s depiction of Death.   In two places Dickinson creates tension with the use of oblique rhyme, which occurs when the last syllables of two words almost rhyme creating a dissonance that is similar to the dissonance created when two white keys next to each other on a piano are hit at the same time.  The words “away” and “civility” in lines 6 and 8 draw the reader’s attention to the second stanza in which the narrator is discussing setting aside the tasks that occupy her life as she transitions from life to afterlife.  The tension caused by the oblique rhyme indicates that the speaker possesses some tension regarding this transition and the letting go of life as she knew it.  This sentiment is echoed again in the last stanza in lines 18 and 20.  The oblique rhyme on the words “day” and “eternity” indicate lingering tension the narrator has about her passing.  However, perfect rhyme dominates the poem in stanzas one, three, and four respectively: “me” (2), “Immortality” (4), “done” (10), “sun” (12), “ground” (14), and “mound” (16).  Because the poem is dominated by these examples of perfect rhyme, they outshine the moments of tension, rendering them to fleeting moments of fear or uncertainty.  The perfect rhyme maintains the peaceful tone of the poem, and supports Dickinson’s depiction of Death as a gentleman caller, who peacefully guides the narrator through her doubt and fear as she passes from life to the afterlife.

             

Although the narrator experiences moments of doubt and fear about her transition from life to the afterlife, as represented by the tension arising from oblique rhymes, she ultimately has a very peaceful experience.  Her experience is exemplified by the peaceful tone of the poem, resulting from the poem’s consistent structure and rhythm.  Dickinson’s choice of diction regarding Death personifies him as a friendly gentleman caller rather than a fierce reaper of souls.  As a result of these techniques, Dickinson argues that death need not be an unwelcoming experience; in fact, she indicates that it can be very peaceful like taking a Sunday drive with a friend or lover.  In other words, Dickinson implies that there is no need to “fear the Reaper.”