The Personifications of Death

In the poem “Because I could not stop for death,” by Emily Dickinson, Death is personified as a kind and calm person by the author, making the reader view Death differently. The author achieved this simply because she describes Death’s actions and what she thinks about him in the poem, like how he is a kind, civilized, and calm person. This makes the reader understand more about Death, changing their views and opinions about him. At the beginning of the poem, in lines 1 and 2, the author says, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me –.” This shows that the author thinks that Death is a really kind person who stopped for her even though she couldn’t stop for him because she was busy living her life; because of this line, an impression of Death’s kindness is left on the reader. The author also says that Death is patient and calm because of line 5 from the poem, stating, “We slowly drove – He knew no haste.” This line shows that Death is a patient man who doesn’t rush things because he “knew no haste,” which also means that he is a calm and collected person; because of this, the reader has a different view of Death, because usually, Death is personified as a restless and impatient man in other poems. Then, in lines 6 to 8, the author says this, “And I had put away... My labor and my leisure too, ... For His Civility –”. These lines show that the author has put away everything, like her labor and leisure, because she saw that Death is a really civilized person, and so she trusts him enough to put everything away and finally rest; because of these lines, the reader now knows that the author trusts Death to the point of leaving everything behind and rests. In conclusion, Death is personified in this poem as a kind and gentle person by the author, and the reader’s views about Death can be changed because of how he was described and how the author saw him.