Author's Note: This essay was written for course ENG560 of Ryerson University, on November 28, 2018.
Imagining Death: Emily Dickinson
In a majority of Emily Dickinson’s poems, she uses personification, imagery, alliteration, capitalization, and enjambment to give life and a unique creativity to her writing. When comparing three of her poems – “Because I could not stop for Death,” “My triumph lasted till the Drums,” and “There's a certain Slant of light” – a main similarity between them is the use of aforementioned poetic techniques to create an imaginative yet still clear picture of Death. The poems all ponder on Death, and Dickinson is able to transcribe into a reader’s imagination and show Death not just as a figure with its own will and purpose, also as a concept of the untouchable and unchangeable afterlife, and as a depression that looms over us.
In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” Death is called by name and treated like a fellow human character. This is seen through the personification Dickinson bestows upon the figure: “[Death] kindly stopped for me –,” “We slowly drove – [Death] knew no haste,” and “[Death’s] Civility” (“Because” 2, 5, 8). To be kind is a human characteristic, to think about a decision – such as choosing to drive slowly without haste – is to be cognitive like humans, and to be civil is also a trait of human interactions and relationships. When reading Dickinson’s poem, a lot of the action and thought of the main character is left ‘off screen’. By this, it is to say that Dickinson’s work often implies what is happening, rather than explicitly telling readers the meanings behind her vague thoughts. For example, in line 2 of the poem (quoted above), it is implied that Death is approaching the main character as something he has to do. The previous line and also the title, “Because I could not stop for Death” (1), gives readers the idea that the exchange between the characters was prearranged. It is important to take away that Dickinson’s poems often force the reader to read between lines and imagine the proceedings that happen before, throughout, and after her poems in order to gather the true meaning of the work. The writer’s use of personification makes it evident that the imagination of the reader should lead them to a human like figure named Death, who has a duty to collect his next casualty and so goes about stopping for the casualty before leading a ride he has done many, many, many times before. Dickinson relies heavily on the reader’s imagination and personal interpretation of her works, shown with the implications lines 1 and 2 of “Because I could not stop for Death” present.
The poem, like her others, also uses alliteration. One specific detail that can be picked up from her use of alliteration is the importance of capital letters. The following examples of alliteration are used in tandem with the call to focus capital letters create: “Recess – in the Ring,” “Gazing Grain,” “the Setting Sun,” “Gossamer, my Gown,” and “My Tippet – only Tulle” (“Death” 10, 11, 12, 15, 16). Besides focusing her imagery – meaning diction that creates an image, such as a “Setting Sun” – within the capitalized alliteration, she also capitalizes the word Death and Dead in this and her other mentioned poems. That purposeful intention of calling attention to both the images she uses and Death signifies that her use of capitalization in her art could be read as a unique technique she may be using to cast Death as part of imagery. In support of this she also capitalizes the word “Civility.” Civility is a state of being with another person, group, or even animal, and yet, it arises a soothing yet nervous image of slightly hostile peace. The character in the poem is graced with Death’s “Civility”, and by reading between the lines, it is almost visible the way they must next to each other in the chariot Death rides, her grieving her life and him taking it as a duty rather than a choice. Dickinson places emphasis on capitalized words and as a result they come across as part of the more clearer imagery she also delivers through capitalization and alliteration. Once more, when relating this once more to the imagery that the capitalized word Death produces is pure imagination. After all, no human has died and lived or came back to tell the tale of what happens after Death. That in itself constitutes that she requires imagination when personifying and capitalizing Death’s name, making the grim reaper like idea become an image in just a word. Imagination, therefore, becomes a must as a part of understanding her poems, and with it, the images she emphasizes with capital letters.
While “Because I could not stop for Death” relates Death to being a human like persona, the poems “My triumph lasted till the Drums” and “There's a certain Slant of light” create much less humanistic images of Death. “My triumph” is a shorter poem, only two stanzas long, and although the main character does not die like one can assume happens in “Because”, it has an even more somber tone. The main character wants to die, and reflects on why through the short poem.
One thing to notice in the title “My triumph lasted till the Drums” that relates to Dickinson’s use of capitalization as a directive to imagery and imagination is the word “Drums.” Drums are loud instruments, and the word itself instigates sound and sight, the vision of tapping and thumping. The title also holds the word “triumph,” which is also a loud and carrying word: it holds victory, glory and pride together. Relating that to the word “Drums” in the same line only makes the sight of loud, proud drums pounding in the reader’s head stronger. The following line is the first in the poem that brings the image of Death to life: “My Triumph lasted till the Drums / Had left the Dead alone” (“Triumph” 1-2). Note that the word Dead is capitalized, but instead of emphasizing a character that has a name like in the poem “Because,” it is capitalized with the importance of Death as a concept. Specifically, the concept of the Dead as being gone. The use of the article “the” prefacing the word Dead also signalizes the plural of those who passed away. It is easy to capture, with the use of enjambment in the first two lines of Dickinson’s poem, that a battle of sorts was fought, the main character’s side had won, and the victory drums had started and ended while the main character still stood in the midst of the battlefield. When the drums stopped sounding, the main character was left with “the Dead” – the people who had passed into an afterlife, the people who were gone. Once more, the capitalization of a word, specifically “Dead”, results in the emphasis of that word representing an image. The imagination of the reader after taking in that word comes into play, picturing bodies mound on one another, people who lived just like the reader and the main character, strewn on the ground before the victory drums, their deaths the price of victory.
Beyond that, the short poem is reflective, and full of imagery. The alliteration “finished Faces” (“Triumph” 5) alludes to the faces of the Dead, and is seen by the main character as a horrible thing. This is visible in the lines “Conclusion turned on me / And then I hated Glory / And wished myself were They” (“Triumph” 6-8). “They” is “the Dead”, and the capitalization of the word “They” is not to be lost. In “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson capitalizes any pronouns referencing Death as one would capitalize the titles for the Christian God: He/His. In the poem “My triumph,” when referencing Death capitalization is used, and in the alliteration “finished Faces” above, the word “Faces” is also capitalized. As the main character wished Death upon themselves, the reader must take it upon themselves to imagine the Dead and their Faces – the horror in witnessing the aftermath of a life sucking battle, the self hatred that comes with being on the winning side, the wistful need for release from the guilt that comes with killing. Reading between the lines, one can also understand the second mention of the Dead in the poem, found in the last lines: “A Bayonet’s contrition / Is nothing to the Dead” (“Triumph” 15-16). A “Bayonet,” which can be assumed to be the weapon of the main character, is a small knife infused to the end of a rifle that soldier’s use in case of close combat fighting and/or running out of ammunition. However, the “Bayonet” is personified by Dickinson in line 15, as it possesses “contrition.” Contrition is a state of remorse and regret, and overtly, a feeling. The reader could assume that the main character is referring to themselves as a “Bayonet”, and in their remorse feels contrition for the actions that lead to “the Dead” being dead. That contrition is taken as a useless feeling by the main character, as they state that it is useless to those who are gone from life. The remorse of the main character does not help those in the afterlife that one is forced to face and picture within Dickinson’s short poem. The imagination of the reader works hard to picture Death because of the way that the capitalized word “Dead” is used – used to evoke creativity, scene, and emotion. Due to the reflection of Death as the ‘after’ of life, an unchangeable and untouchable land, “My triumph lasted till the Drums” is another of Emily Dickinson’s works that requires imagination for understanding.
Lastly, the poem “There’s a certain Slant of light” by Emily Dickinson, also uses poetic techniques to encourage the imagination of Death. Death in this poem is reasonably less humanistic, and while still a concept, gathers itself within oppressed emotion. The “Slant of light” mentioned in the title and first line of the poem is conceptualized by Dickinson in a curious yet effective manner. The “Slant”: “oppresses, like the Heft / Of Cathedral Tunes” (3-4); it gives ‘us’ a “Heavenly Hurt” that leaves no scar (5-6); and “None may teach it—Any—” (9). Lines 3-4 of the poem imply some personification of the “Slant”, but “oppress[ion]” can be the resulting feeling of many things, and is not a verb that can only be acted out by humans. Dickinson uses a simile, comparing the oppression caused by the “Slant” to one caused by “Cathedral Tunes”. Cathedral music is not always light and joyous, and the word “Heft” that describes it through enjambment implies the tunes are opposite – heavy and void of joy. Lines 5-6 describe the “Slant” as resulting in pain. However, because the “Hurt” leaves no scar it is not real pain, and the alliteration “Heavenly Hurt” implies an untouchable quality to the pain, much like the untouchable quality Heaven and the afterlife behold. Additionally, line 9 encourages the reader to think the “Slant”’s effect is so unique that it cannot be shared, maybe not even spoken about. To “teach” is generally thought of as a vocal action, and if none can teach it, it is also implied that it cannot be put into words. The implications in these three explanations of the “Slant of light” can only be understood through the reader’s imagination, and their own personal experience with the topics touched.
In relation of the “Slant” to Death, comes the last two lines of the poem, in the form of a simple and powerful simile: “When it goes, 'tis like the Distance / On the look of Death –” (“There’s” 15-16). Enjambment is once again present in the comparison made, and Death is capitalized, a call out to the force of its easily pictured imagery. Death in this poem is capable of “look[ing]” a certain way, and whatever the “look of Death” is, it is implied that the “Slant” resembles it. Dickinson makes it clear that the “Slant” is not a ‘good’ experience throughout the rest of the poem, and when the “Slant” disappears, there becomes this “Distance” from Death’s “look”. The simile itself demands imagination, as the reader creates the figure of Death in their mind, and then casts its to a “Distance”. “Distance” is also capitalized in the lines due to the vagueness the word presents. Without specifying how many inches, feet, yards, or kilometers of distance are being put forth when the “Slant” disappears, Dickinson masterfully creates another opportunity for the reader’s own creativity and outlook fill in the blank.
Of the three poems mentioned, “There’s a certain Slant of light” holds the most mystery in the image of Death the reader should make, and through that, is the most calling of imagination to the surface. To imagine a battlefield full of dead bodies, like that in “My triumph lasted till the Drums,” or to imagine a grim reaper like manly figure with a chariot, like that in “Because I could not stop for Death,” are comparatively easy things to imagine. Dickinson’s power of using the techniques of enjambment, capitalization, alliteration, personification and imagery are so distinct in “There’s a certain Slant of light” because she is able to breathe emotion into the reader with her words. She captures the depression of “Winter Afternoons—” (2) and hurt for which “We can find no scar” (6); she takes words and uses them to fill in the picture of the feeling she wants us imagine. The “Slant” is almost like the absence of feeling, and when Dickinson compares it to the “look of Death” (16), one can take away that the look of the people who are dead, such as the “finished Faces” from line 5 of “My triumph”, are emotionless and lifeless. Dickinson conceptualizes being dead into seeing that “certain Slight of light” (1).
Emily Dickinson’s three works, “Because I could not stop for Death,” “My triumph lasted till the Drums,” and “There's a certain Slant of light,” imagination is not only encouraged to the reader, but a major part of understanding the poems’s meanings. Comparably, each poem uses the concept of Death in its own way, but ultimately, they each paint a clear and unique image of Death through imagination and creativity. Without the emphasis Dickinson utilizes through capitalization and imagery, as well as enjambment, personification, and alliteration, that imagination would not be possible. In conclusion, the three poems attest to the importance of imagination in poetry, and Dickinson uses her talented diction to portray Death as a dutiful figure, a concept of untouchable afterlife, and the absence of emotion clinging to depression.
Works Cited
Goldrick-Jones, Amanda, and Herbert Rosengarten. “There’s a certain Slant of light,” “Because I could not stop for Death,” “My triumph lasted till the Drums.” Emily Dickinson. The Broadview Anthology of Poetry, p. 299, 303, 304. Broadview Press, 2009.
留言