2. Introducing the Poem Literary Focus: Irony Reading Skills: Summarizing a Text Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson Feature Menu

3. Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

4. Death is close enough at hand so we do not need to be afraid of life. Friedrich Nietzsche Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

5. Death arrives for the speaker in a horse-drawn carriage. In this poem, Dickinson “tames” the fearful idea of death with a gentle metaphor, or figurative comparison. They ride past a schoolyard, fields of grain, and the speaker’s graveside—toward their ultimate destination. Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

6. In 1950, the great American composer Aaron Copland created a musical tribute to Dickinson’s poetry. Poems Set to Music Click here for rest of the story. [End of Section] Aaron Copland Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

7. Irony is a discrepancy Because I could not stop for Death Literary Focus: Irony between appearances and reality between what seems appropriate and what actually happens

8. A pleasant carriage ride turns out to be a trip of eternal significance. The success of this poem depends on irony. Because I could not stop for Death Literary Focus: Irony A lighthearted, witty tone contrasts with the seriousness of the subject, death. As you read, pay careful attention to details that give the poem an ironic twist. [End of Section]

9. Dickinson uses time in an unusual way in this poem. Because I could not stop for Death Reading Skills: Summarizing a Text As you read, pause at the end of each stanza and note when the events are occurring. [End of Section]

10. When Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) died at the age of fifty-five, hardly anyone guessed that her sharp and delicate voice would echo for generations to come. Some seventy years after her death, she was recognized as one of the greatest poets America, and perhaps the world, had produced. More About the Writer Because I could not stop for Death Meet the Writer [End of Section]