Because I Could Not Stop for Death

At the beginning of “Because I could not stop for Death,” the speaker has just died. She has experienced a profound shift and, as the events of the poem will reveal, entered a new zone of experience. However, Dickinson describes the person of Death as “kindly” (Line 2), unhurried, and polite (as indicated by the word “Civility” in Line 8). This is not a traumatic transition from life into the afterlife, but instead the pleasant start of a new journey, led by a gracious gentleman.

Before the carriage comes, the speaker ceased working and resting, her life’s events now completely behind her: “I had put away — / My labor and my leisure too” (Lines 6-7). Her tone is matter-of-fact, as if she has completed a routine chore and not departed tragically from her loved ones.

However, Death still determines the course of events. The first line of the poem, which serves as its title, indicates that the speaker is not capable of calling Death’s carriage to pick her up. Death arrives on his schedule, and the speaker is glad to climb aboard. He leads the carriage at leisurely pace as from her seat, the speaker observes a series of images traditionally associated with the passage of a human life.