1. Because I Could not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson Unit 3

2. Author New words Poetry reading Appreciation Exercise

3. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)  An American lyrical poet born in Amherst, Massachusetts.  She was a very eccentric, private person.  She rarely left her house or had any visitors.  Her poems often reflected on her loneliness, other feelings and what mattered to her the most.  Emily did not care about money or fame in fact she didn’t want the public to read her poems.  She wrote hundreds of poems but only 7 were released into the public in her life time. Author

5. immortality ( n.) 不朽 civility ( n.) 谦恭 strive ( v.) 奋斗 recess ( v. ) 休息 dew ( n.) 露珠 quiver ( v.) 颤动 New words

6.  Gossamer- a wedding dress (used to marry death)  Tippet- a scarf for the neck and shoulders  Tulle- a fine net of silk used especially for wedding veils  Cornice- a horizontal molding along top of a wall  Surmise- to make a guess or conjecture

7. Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.  This stanza reveals Emily’s calm acceptance of death.  Death is seen as kind and polite.  The journey to her grave begins when death comes calling. Poetry reading Appreciation

8. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility  The drive symbolizes her physical leaving life.  He drives her slowly, which could be an expression of his consideration for her.  Having relinquished her labor and leisure for the ride, she gives death her respect and full attention.

9. We Passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun.  Here Dickinson speaks about the different stages of her life.  …children at recess symbolizes her childhood  …gazing grain, her maturity/adulthood  …the setting sun, her final years and decent into death.  The atmosphere surrounding the ride begins to change when we see the setting sun.

10. Or rather, he passed us; The dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, My tippet only tulle.  Being passed by the sun signifies that her life went by quickly.  With the sun setting it becomes dark, damp and cold in contrast to the light and warmth of the preceding stanzas.  Her garments are more appropriate for a wedding, representing a new beginning, that for a funeral, representing an end.

11. We paused before house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound.  The word “house” is used as a euphemism for a grave to indicate how comfortable she feels about death.  In this stanza she describes her new home (grave).

12. Since then ‘tis centuries, and yet each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses’ heads Were toward eternity.  It’s been centuries since her carriage ride with Death (the time she has been dead).  But the time since, seems shorter than the day of which she was alive.

13. 28.10.2015 Exercise  1.What does “He” in the first stanza stand for?  2.What does the “House” in the fifth stanza stand for?  3.What did the poet see from the carriage?  4.What is the main idea of the poem?