Calm in Death

            While reading poem #479 by Emily Dickenson, I was surprised at the calm demeanor with which the subject of death is discussed. Normally people view death as a frightening, dreaded part of life. However, Emily Dickenson describes death in the same manner that she would discuss an acquaintance or friend. Death is portrayed as kind, quick, and polite, a far cry from the typical portrayals of death as evil, violent, and often slow and agonizing. She even capitalizes the word Death making it more than just a simple fact of life but a personified object. Death is the subject of many of Dickenson’s poems, so perhaps in her writing she came to terms with death, which is why Death is treated as an acquaintance or friend rather than an adversary.

            After reading the poem several times, I found this poem had a calming effect over me in regards to death. Through this poem, Dickenson reminds me that my attitude toward death should not be one of fear and dread, but one of acceptance. She points to the fact that death is inevitable when she says “Because I could not stop for Death -/He kindly stopped for me” (Dickenson 1-2). However, she is not scared when this inevitable thing happens but rather welcomes it. She gives up the things she loves and watches the world around her, as she never has before. Then she describes how great it is to live eternally. I found myself no longer dreading death by the end of the poem because it is inevitable and because centuries feel shorter than a day in the afterlife. There is nothing to dread about death because you get to live for eternity. It makes me wonder what faith Emily Dickenson was or if she was of any faith at all. She takes a very Christian approach to the afterlife. Overall I found the calm nature with which she regards death soothing.