Question

name: los doles date: 11/09/20 class: 903
because i could not stop for death
by emily dickinson 1890
emily dickinson (1830 - 1886) was an american poet. dickinson lived a mostly reclusive and
introverted life in amherst, massachusetts, where she wrote about 1800 poems. the following
poem, which was published after her death, was originally titled \the chariot.\ please note this
is the public domain version and this version features only five stanzas and no dashes. as you
read, take notes on how dickinson uses figurative language to describe death.
guided questions
1 because i could not stop for death,
he kindly stopped for me;
the carriage held but just ourselves
and immortality.
5 we slowly drove, he knew no haste,
and i had put away
my labor, and my leisure too,
for his civility.
we passed the school where children
played,
10 their lessons scarcely done;
we passed the fields of gazing grain,
we passed the setting sun.
we paused before a house that seemed
a swelling of the ground;
15 the roof was scarcely visible,
the cornice, but a mound.
since then tis centuries; but each
feels shorter than the day
i first surmised the horses heads
20 were toward eternity.
cornice an ornamental molding around the wall of a room just below the ceiling.
surmised to suppose that something is true; to deduce or guess

Explanation:

1. First question:

• The poem says "He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality." This indicates that the speaker is taking a carriage ride with Death.

1. Second question:

• The description of the "house" as "A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible" is a common image associated with a tomb.

1. Third question:

• The scenes described like children playing, fields of grain, and the setting sun are peaceful.

Answer:

1. b) the speaker of the poem taking a carriage ride with death.
2. b) a tomb
3. d) peaceful and beautiful