A Comparison of Stylistics Elements of the Poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Death be Not Proud” by John Donne

A.    Introduction

Analyzing poem is a part of literature study which is interesting to do. A poem is analyzed by looking at the elements of it, such as diction, tone, mood, figures of speech, sound patterns, and symbols; those elements are called stylistics elements of poem.  In this essay, the writer takes two poems by two different poets to be analyzed based on the stylistics elements. Those poems are “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Death be Not Proud” by John Donne. Before proceeding any further, the first thing that must be discussed first is the background of the poets.

Emily Dickinson is an America’s poet whose poems are famous in literature study. She was born in Massachusetts and she attended one year of college at female seminary in South Hadley. According to Reuben (2012), Emily Dickinson did not continue her study in the second year at the seminary because she was homesick and unhealthy. After deciding not to continue her study at the seminary, Emily Dickinson always spent her time alone in her room and wrote many poems. On the other side, John Donne is an English poet whose poems are also famous in literature study. He was born in 1572 in London. Moreover, he existed in the era of Queen Elizabeth as a poem writer besides his main job in politics. He was married but in 1617 his wife died in childbirth. After the death of his wife, John Donne became a priest and he still wrote many poems (Smith, 2012).

Even though Emily Dickinson and John Donne are from different era and background, their poems titled “Because I could Not Stop for Death” and “Death be Not Proud” have some similarities in the stylistics elements. Both of the poets talks about death and personify death as written in the poems. Besides that, their poems are kind of lyric poems; poems which are created to share feeling. It becomes the reason why the writer is interested to discuss about those two poems by Emily Dickinson and John Donne which are created in different era. This essay will try to compare the stylistics elements of the poems based on the diction, tone, mood, and figures of speech.

B.    Diction, Tone, and Mood

Diction is the word choices that the poets use in order to reveal the tone of the poems (Fruhauf, Kelly, and Johnstone, 2006). Moreover, tone refers to the mood of the poems in the whole part. Tone affects the atmosphere of the poems and influences the readers’ emotional response or feeling while reading the poems (Drew, 1959:73). Tone can be furious, ironic, melancholy, religious, thoughtful, joking, indifferent, sarcastic, sentimental, earnest, enthusiastic, fearful, tortured, joyful, vengeful, serious, affectionate, forgiving, mocking, and many others (Kennedy and Gioia, 2002:21).

Diction, tone, and mood can be analyzed by looking at the poems and understand what the poets want to convey by writing the poems. Emily Dickinson, as cited in Kennedy and Gioia (2002: 386), wrote the poem titled “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”:

Because I could not stop for Death—

He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves—

And Immortality.

We slowly drove— He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess— in the Ring—

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—

We passed the Setting Sun—

Or  rather—He passed Us—

The Dews drew quivering and chill—

For only Gossamer, my Gown—

My Tippet—only Tulle

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling on the Ground—

The Roof was scarcely visible—

The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—‘tis Centuries—and yet

Feels  Shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses’ Heads

Were toward Eternity—

While Emily Dickinson wrote “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, John Donne, as cited in Kennedy and Gioia (2002: 446), wrote the poem titled “Death be Not Proud”:

Death be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

From both of the poems, the diction, tone, and mood of the poems are a bit different.  Both of Emily Dickinson and John Donne use the word “death” in their own poems. However, the tone and mood which is created in the poems because of the word “death” are different.  Emily Dickinson, in her poem, interprets “death” as positive mood which refers to respect and reverence, while John Donne interprets “death” as negative mood which refers to disgust and contempt. Fruhauf, Kelly, and Johnstone (2006) stated:

Both Dickinson and Donne obviously choose to have death as their subject, but each has a decidedly different attitude toward their subject, or tone, in their poem. These attitudes are revealed by their careful word choice or diction. Note that Dickinson employs words like kindly and civility to convey her tone of respect and reverence. Donne, on the other hand, uses phrases like slave to Fate and with…sickness dwell to convey his disgust and contempt.

Diction, tone, and mood are parts of stylistics elements in poems that can be analyzed by understanding the specific words which are used in the poems and the content of the poems. Emily Dickinson exposes the word “death” as positive connotation while John Donne exposes it as negative connotation.

C.    Figure of Speech: Personification of Death

In general, figures of speech are expressions that suggest more than the literal meanings in the poems. Kennedy and Gioia (2002:119) said, “A figure of speech may be said to occur whenever a writer, for the sake of freshness or emphasis, departs from the usual denotation of words.” Moreover, figures of speech usually are not meant as the literal meanings but they imply more than what the poets say on the surface in their poems. In daily language or everyday speech, figurative language represents one thing in terms of another. It may describe an action or a feeling by comparing it to something else. Furthermore, the use of figures of speech makes the poets write their poems more imaginative. Figures of speech in the poems, according to Kennedy and Gioia (2002:122), consist of simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole.

Based on the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, the figurative language which dominates in the poem is personification. Personification is a part of figurative language that attributes human characteristics to other objects such as animals, things, and abstract ideas (www.chaparralpoets.org). The personification of death in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson can be analyzed from each stanza. In the first stanza, “Because I could not stop for Death— He kindly stopped for me.” The Death, in the first stanza, is personified because the “death” does activity that a person usually does; that is stopping. In the second stanza, “We slowly drove—He knew no haste. And I had put away. My labor and my leisure too, for His Civility“, it is clearly stated in the second clause “He knew no haste” and the last phrase “for His Civility”. Moreover, in the forth stanza in the first line “Or rather—He passed Us—“also shows the personification of death in Emily Dickinson’s poem. Emily Dickinson conveys the death as a welcome relief, a blessed way to heaven and immortality (Melani, 2009); this also supports the previous writer’s statement that death in Emily Dickinson’s poem refers to positive connotation.

Similar to Emily Dickinson, John Donne also personified the death in his poem “Death be Not Proud”. In the first line of his poem, that is “Death be not proud, though some have called thee”; in this line John Donne tells that the death has feeling like human. Then, in the next lines, John Donne points the death as the second person point of view, “you” in old English form, for example “Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so”. Furthermore, in the last line of the poem, John Donne writes,” And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die” which shows that the death can die as a person does. John Donne conveys the death as negative connotation; it can be proved in some lines of the poem as cited in Kennedy and Gioia (2002: 446):

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?

In those parts, John Donne shows that the death is like a slave to fate which is like a game for men. Men cannot control the death, but it comes like when they are gambling; it is not sure when it will come. In a simple way, John Donne sees death as something frightening in human life. That is why it is said that John Donne creates negative connotation of the death. Schaper (2012) tries to explain the negative connotation of the death in John Donne’s poem:

Death as deemed a slave, a unique trope, one, which the poet fashions with wit and wisdom. Fate is far greater the force than the end of life, which menaces many men. Chance is a game, a mere trifle, a toy that men gamble with, whether ending their fortunes or their lives. Kings put evil rebels, madman, and threats to the state, to death… Death is not even a scavenger, but a frustrated element pushed to the limit.

           

In a simpler way, based on the personification of death, Emily Dickinson and John Donne have different ideas. Emily Dickinson sees death as a good thing or bless while John Donne sees it like an unwanted thing in this world. However, both poets attribute human characteristics to abstract thing, death.

D.    Conclusion

In summary, the poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Death be Not Proud” by John Donne have same theme which is talking about death. Those poems are also categorized as lyric poems because both of them have purpose to share feelings. However, the diction, tone, and mood of the poems are a bit different.  Both of Emily Dickinson and John Donne use the word “death” in their own poems. Moreover, the tone and mood which is created in the poems because of the word “death” are different.  Emily Dickinson, in her poem, interprets “death” as positive mood, while John Donne interprets “death” as negative mood. Furthermore, both Emily Dickinson and John Donne personify the death in their poems.

References:

Drew, E. (1959). Poetry: A Modern Guide to Its Understanding and Enjoyment. New York 17, NY: Dell Publishing.

Fruhauf, K., Godwin, B., & Johnstone, L. (2006). Students Handbook: A Student Guide to Success on the Board-wide Examination. Retrieved from http://www.ocdsb.ca/med/pub/ocdsb_publications/eng_4u_exemplar_handbook.pdf

Kennedy, X.J., & Gioia, D. (2002). An Introduction to Poetry. New York: Longman.

Melani, L. (2009, February 25). Emily Dickinson. The Biography of Emily Dickinson. Retrieved from http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/dickinson.html

Reuben, P.P. (2012). Chapter 4: Emily Dickinson. PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. Retrieved from http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap4/dickinson.html

Schaper, C.A., (2012, July 25). Poetry Analysis: ‘Death be Not Proud’ by John Donne. The Epoch Times. Retrieved from http://epoch-archive.com

Smith , A.J.(2012) . Biography: John Donne . Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-donne.