How is death personified in "Because I could not stop for Death"?
- print Print
- list Cite
Expert Answers

briefcaseTeacher (K-12)
calendarEducator since 2016
write6,495 answers
starTop subjects are Literature, History, and Arts
In this poem, Death is personified in such a way that he seems like a suitor, someone who is attempting to woo, or to court, the speaker. He arrives in his carriage to pick her up at her house. Further, his manner is "kindly" while they drive off, alone, together. Death, the suitor, drives the carriage slowly, not wanting to rush or to go too fast for the speaker's comfort; his care seems to imply that he feels some concern for her feelings. The speaker claims that she has laid everything aside in order to prepare for "His Civility": it is almost like they are on a date.
During their carriage...
(The entire section contains 4 answers and 499 words.)
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Related Questions
- What is the theme of "Because I could not stop for Death"?
- 2 Educator Answers
- Identify poetic techniques/devices used in the poem "Because I could not stop for death" by Emily...
- 3 Educator Answers
- Why couldn’t the narrator stop for Death in "Because I could not stop for Death?
- 1 Educator Answer
- What is the rhyme scheme in Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for Death"?
- 3 Educator Answers
- In "Because I could not stop for Death—" what is the significance of immortality?
- 1 Educator Answer

calendarEducator since 2006
write16,149 answers
starTop subjects are Literature, History, and Social Sciences

calendarEducator since 2009
write16,848 answers
starTop subjects are Literature, History, and Social Sciences

calendarEducator since 2009
write35,413 answers
starTop subjects are History, Literature, and Social Sciences
The first example of personification within the poem is that death stops for the narrator. This indicates that death has the ability to stop and go and get the person. Death is kindly, a quality associated with a person. Death knows no haste, ability to hurry, but death could only know something if he has a brain and can be cognitive of something. Death and the setting sun are presented as "he" and have the ability to pass by one another.
Emily Dickinson's whole poem presents death as a person who has come to get the narrator who is too busy getting on with her life to stop living. Death arrives on its own and picks her up in a carriage but takes he time to take her past things that she enjoys as he takes her to his place.
Student Answers