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Death is the everlasting topic that always allures people to explore. Emily Dickinson is among these explorers. But Dickinson knew that things could never be so easy. For her， death is an unsolvable riddle but which she could always explore. Dickinson’s depictions of death are much more complicated and stark than conventional representations. She composed numerous death poem in order to convey her own more complex attitudes toward death and the afterlife. But her meditations about death are always from different perspectives. Sometimes， she considers death from the view of an “outsider”， like “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”. Sometimes， she scrutinizes death from a way of Platonic eternity， like “Safe in their Alabaster Chambers—”. But in “Because I could not stop for death”， she discusses about death from the perspective of time， past time， especially. The narrator in this poem looks back with nostalgia to her past， but it seems that her linear and orderly time is interrupted by an eternal dimension which denotes death. Therefore， through emphasizing the value of the past from the aspects of content and form， Dickinson manages to reveal the bleak and desolate side of death and express her resistance against death.
The writing of the whole poem is mostly achieved by the past tense. It is obvious for readers to understand that the past tense represents the earthly life， but what kind of life is it？ In the first three stanzas， the prominent symbol for this mortal life is linear time. In the beginning， the first verb “stop” has created the atmosphere of a long and continuous journey into a temporary pause. After the boarding of narrator， the carriage continues to move forward in a chronological way. In the third stanza， the carriage passes three scenes in total. They are “Children strove” representing the childhood， the beginning of one’s life， “Gazing Grain” representing the adulthood， the fruitful phase of one’s life and “Setting sun” representing the aged phase， the epilogue of one’s life. The repetition of “we passed” employed to describe displacement also indicates that time lapses as the space changes. From childhood to adulthood to elder-hood， this progress is the reflection of time-lapsing upon one’s being. And such repetition helps to achieve an atmosphere of continuity and present a complete and satisfactory process of life. Referring to this velocity of time upon earthly life， a sense of “slow” and “no haste” developed by narrator in the second stanza could be explained. It seems that in the first three stanzas， everything happens orderly and chronologically. But in fact， a dissonance has been existing since the commencement of this journey， which is “Immortality”， a companion of “our” journey and an antidote of time. The existence of immortality foreshadows the collapse of chronological system. Unsurprisingly， the real collapse outbreaks in the start of fourth stanza， which sets a sharp turn to the whole poem： “Or rather—He passed us—” It is well-known that sun is a remarkable recorder of time. Dickinson will frequently take advantage of the different positions of sun to illuminate the concept of time or immortality. For example， in the poem “A Clock Stopped”， she compares the eternity after death to “Into Degreeless noon”. And in this poem， the status that “sun passes us” is compared to the discordant between man and time. Sun’s motion of passing cuts off the harmonious and ongoing process of life. Compared to the previous stanza in which the subject of motion remains “we”， in this current stanza， “we” merely become the object and recipient of that motion. If the line “we passed the setting sun—” indicates that “we” still maintain an active role in “our” life and time， then “He passed me—” will imply that “we” are abandoned by time and “we” lose an ability to experience time or life. Time will move on as usual， but the only difference is that “we”， especially “I” has been left alone. This helpless， passive and lonely condition and isolation from time are narrator’s first and direct impressions on death.
With the impression deepened， the images of death become more and more terrifying. “Dew” is “quivering and chill” but only “gossamer”， “gown”， “tippet” and “tulle” are worn. Besides， “house” is like a “swelling of ground”， “the roof” is “scarcely visible” and the “cornice” is “in the ground”. These images create a chilly and gloomy atmosphere which will never be diminished by the “kindness” or “civility” of the “Gentlemen Death”. Both ghost-like garments and grave-like home form a sharp contrast to the previous tranquil and harmonious setting. Nonetheless， this psychological terror aroused by spooky images is only superficial. When it comes to the next stanza， the terror is intensified by her consciousness of the time disorder after death.
The past tense， which is mentioned before， is the dominant tense throughout the whole poem. Notwithstanding， in the last stanza， the sudden and transient change of tense composes a remarkable influence upon the whole poem： “Since then—’ tis Centuries and yet / Feels shorter than the Days”. According to Miller Cristanne， “with the change of tense， the narrator seems to draw a conclusion： everything that was orderly and systematic in the mind has become chaotic and blurry. The similar condition only happens in the poems with first-person narrative.” （73） The change between past tense and present tense demonstrates that something which was restored in narrator’s mind conceivably including the reason and the process of this death journey， has been currently reversed. This dimension portrayed by the present tense is a world where centuries are shorter than days and eternity accompanied by emptiness， nothingness， endlessness and loneliness exists. Not long for her to thoroughly experience this dimension， she is sent back， which can be exemplified by the rejoining of the past tense： “I first surmised the Horse Heads / Were toward Eternity.” She comes back to the world where she just begins her death journey and she has not reached the real sense of death yet. “Obviously， the past tense characterizes the past lifetime which is so valuable that death can not eliminate... The narrator who is able to cross the boundary between life and death is endowed with an ability to speak and to express her reluctance to leave （die） in front of the poet and readers.” （Wang， 144） The poet takes advantage of the narrator to expound her conception upon death： eternity brought by death is endless and free from time limit， but is empty and lonely. Time in the earthly world is quick and short， but is invaluable and significant. No matter how much people have tried to glorify death， it is still nothing extraordinary than lifetime. Death marks the end of time and the disappearance of carnal existence. In the last two lines， the narrator without self-existence could be compared to the “Horse Heads”， the only remaining part of horses， which symbolizes the spiritual being floating and drifting towards endless and eternal nothingness. Besides content， in order to express her feelings towards death more vividly， Emily Dickinson also employs many devices to demonstrate her thinking. This poem is written in hymn meter. Although the rhyme scheme is not perfectly regular， but each quatrain does follow a certain pattern. In the even-numbered lines， there are four feet per line， which is called iambic tetrameter. The second and fourth lines of each stanza have three feet， which is called iambic trimeter. So the lines with 8 syllables or 6 syllables twist and weave together consisting of the whole structure of the poem， a grave-like structure. According to Abbott’s analysis， burial vaults at that time were “once formed by two parallel dry-stone walls， six to eight feet apart， six to eight feet high. ... The entire structure was banked with earth and sod and grassed over， creating Dickinson’s imagined grave.” （Abbott， 142） Under the construction of these lines with the similar proportion， the structure of this poem possesses a resemblance with the claustrophobic grave. And those dashes which make each word and each line extended look like pairs of outstretched arms sticking out of the grave walls and asking for help. These hands long to escape from death by trying to grasp something tangible of the past so as to retrieve time and life. Meanwhile， narrator’s efforts and struggle to return to the past and resist against death are embodied.
Except for this role that dash plays， other functions of it are also required to notice. As one of the remarkable characteristic of her writing： Dickinson never uses dash randomly nor unconsciously. She knows clearly where to put and where not to. In the common sense， dashes in Dickinson’s poetry often “disrupt and/or complicate the meanings of her sentences， constructing subordinate， fragmentary meanings within those sentences， and even building indeterminacies （or multiplicities） inside them.” （Miller， Wayne， 167） The frequent attendance or the silent absence of dashes also shoulders different duties. For instance， when the past is described， the combination of dash and enjambment further prolongs the sustainability of actions by expanding these actions like “stop” “held” “drove” “pass” “strove” into many lines： “We passed the school， when Children strove/ At Recess—in the Ring—.” From this form， a sense of continuity and a sense of extension are shaped. This form of extension can be deemed as an attempt to evade from death. When the poet resorts to dash and enjambment， to some extent， she makes the narrator a resident in the joints created by them， where narrator could indulge herself in the past as if never leaves. More than that， even some places without the presence of dash also have their certain function. In her another celebrated death poem “I felt a Funeral， in my Brain”， the last line is “ And Finished knowing—then—”. When this line is read， the readers have to decide where we are left waiting after an elliptical condition. Henceforth， different divisions set by dashes create two possibilities. “In this first possibility， the speaker’s death becomes the definite end to her knowing， and thus her living. In the second， after the end of her limited， earthly knowledge， the speaker encounters a kind of knowing that can’t be communicated ， one that can be hinted at only by an open ending.” （Miller， Wayne， 167） Possibilities signify hope. In that poem， the appearance of dash indicates the possible turning and possible hope in the future so as to revolt against the predetermined ending. On the contrary， in this poem， there is no such dash in the last line. The absence of dash directly implicates that there are no other alternatives for narrator， for poet， and for every human being. The ultimate sense of death is the same to everyone： no time， no life， no existence， but spiritual everlasting emptiness. Compared to this， every passing minute in the subcelestial life is invaluable.
In fact， Emily Dickinson once mentioned this concern in her letters to friend： “it is hard for me to give up life.” （67） The whole poem of “Because I could not stop for death” contains 24 lines. The ratio of past tense to presents tense is 22：2. The past tense represents “my” longing past life， while the present tense indicates the current situation， which is the external eternity outside time. Through changing these two tenses， human’s world and the death world exists parallel with each other and the boundaries between life and death， time and eternity are blurs. Under the structure of tense， through the images Dickinson depicts and the literary she applied， the poet successfully sheds a spotlight on the value of earthly life and expresses her resistance against death， the one which is highly glorified by the her contemporary culture at the same time.
References：
[1]Abbott， Collamer M. Dickinson’s Because I could Not Stop for Death， The Explicator， Vol. 58. No. 3：140-143[J].
[2]Dickinson， Emily. Letters of Emily Dickinson： 2 vols. Ed. Mabel Loomis Todd[J]. Boston： Little， Brown， 1984：67.
[3]Martin， Wendy. The Cambridge Introduction to Emily Dickinson[M]. Cambridge University Press， 2007.
[4]Miller， Cristanne. Emily Dickinson： A Poet’s Grammar. Cambridge， Massachusetts， and London： Harvard University Press[M]. 1987.
[5]Miller， Wayne. “Dickinson’s Dashes and the Free-Verse Line”. Quoted， A Broken Thing： Poets on the Line， edited by Rosko， Emily， and Zee， Anton Vander， University of Lowa Press[M]. 2011：146-149.
[6]Farland， Maria Magdalena. “That Tritest/Brightest Truth”： Emily Dickinson’s Anti-Sentimentality[J]. Nineteenth-Century Literature， 1998.
[7]Shmoop Editorial Team. Because I could not stop for Death Form and Meter[OL]. https：//www.shmoop.com/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death/rhyme-form-meter.html. Shmoop University， Inc.， 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Dec 2019.
[8]Wang Yongmei. Time in Emily Dickinson’s Death Poems （時态的交响乐：艾米莉·狄金森死亡诗歌中的时间观）[D]. Journal of Southwest University （Social Science Edition）， Vol. 37， No. 1.Jan. 2011：141-145.
【作者简介】韩铭，华东师范大学。
The writing of the whole poem is mostly achieved by the past tense. It is obvious for readers to understand that the past tense represents the earthly life， but what kind of life is it？ In the first three stanzas， the prominent symbol for this mortal life is linear time. In the beginning， the first verb “stop” has created the atmosphere of a long and continuous journey into a temporary pause. After the boarding of narrator， the carriage continues to move forward in a chronological way. In the third stanza， the carriage passes three scenes in total. They are “Children strove” representing the childhood， the beginning of one’s life， “Gazing Grain” representing the adulthood， the fruitful phase of one’s life and “Setting sun” representing the aged phase， the epilogue of one’s life. The repetition of “we passed” employed to describe displacement also indicates that time lapses as the space changes. From childhood to adulthood to elder-hood， this progress is the reflection of time-lapsing upon one’s being. And such repetition helps to achieve an atmosphere of continuity and present a complete and satisfactory process of life. Referring to this velocity of time upon earthly life， a sense of “slow” and “no haste” developed by narrator in the second stanza could be explained. It seems that in the first three stanzas， everything happens orderly and chronologically. But in fact， a dissonance has been existing since the commencement of this journey， which is “Immortality”， a companion of “our” journey and an antidote of time. The existence of immortality foreshadows the collapse of chronological system. Unsurprisingly， the real collapse outbreaks in the start of fourth stanza， which sets a sharp turn to the whole poem： “Or rather—He passed us—” It is well-known that sun is a remarkable recorder of time. Dickinson will frequently take advantage of the different positions of sun to illuminate the concept of time or immortality. For example， in the poem “A Clock Stopped”， she compares the eternity after death to “Into Degreeless noon”. And in this poem， the status that “sun passes us” is compared to the discordant between man and time. Sun’s motion of passing cuts off the harmonious and ongoing process of life. Compared to the previous stanza in which the subject of motion remains “we”， in this current stanza， “we” merely become the object and recipient of that motion. If the line “we passed the setting sun—” indicates that “we” still maintain an active role in “our” life and time， then “He passed me—” will imply that “we” are abandoned by time and “we” lose an ability to experience time or life. Time will move on as usual， but the only difference is that “we”， especially “I” has been left alone. This helpless， passive and lonely condition and isolation from time are narrator’s first and direct impressions on death.
With the impression deepened， the images of death become more and more terrifying. “Dew” is “quivering and chill” but only “gossamer”， “gown”， “tippet” and “tulle” are worn. Besides， “house” is like a “swelling of ground”， “the roof” is “scarcely visible” and the “cornice” is “in the ground”. These images create a chilly and gloomy atmosphere which will never be diminished by the “kindness” or “civility” of the “Gentlemen Death”. Both ghost-like garments and grave-like home form a sharp contrast to the previous tranquil and harmonious setting. Nonetheless， this psychological terror aroused by spooky images is only superficial. When it comes to the next stanza， the terror is intensified by her consciousness of the time disorder after death.
The past tense， which is mentioned before， is the dominant tense throughout the whole poem. Notwithstanding， in the last stanza， the sudden and transient change of tense composes a remarkable influence upon the whole poem： “Since then—’ tis Centuries and yet / Feels shorter than the Days”. According to Miller Cristanne， “with the change of tense， the narrator seems to draw a conclusion： everything that was orderly and systematic in the mind has become chaotic and blurry. The similar condition only happens in the poems with first-person narrative.” （73） The change between past tense and present tense demonstrates that something which was restored in narrator’s mind conceivably including the reason and the process of this death journey， has been currently reversed. This dimension portrayed by the present tense is a world where centuries are shorter than days and eternity accompanied by emptiness， nothingness， endlessness and loneliness exists. Not long for her to thoroughly experience this dimension， she is sent back， which can be exemplified by the rejoining of the past tense： “I first surmised the Horse Heads / Were toward Eternity.” She comes back to the world where she just begins her death journey and she has not reached the real sense of death yet. “Obviously， the past tense characterizes the past lifetime which is so valuable that death can not eliminate... The narrator who is able to cross the boundary between life and death is endowed with an ability to speak and to express her reluctance to leave （die） in front of the poet and readers.” （Wang， 144） The poet takes advantage of the narrator to expound her conception upon death： eternity brought by death is endless and free from time limit， but is empty and lonely. Time in the earthly world is quick and short， but is invaluable and significant. No matter how much people have tried to glorify death， it is still nothing extraordinary than lifetime. Death marks the end of time and the disappearance of carnal existence. In the last two lines， the narrator without self-existence could be compared to the “Horse Heads”， the only remaining part of horses， which symbolizes the spiritual being floating and drifting towards endless and eternal nothingness. Besides content， in order to express her feelings towards death more vividly， Emily Dickinson also employs many devices to demonstrate her thinking. This poem is written in hymn meter. Although the rhyme scheme is not perfectly regular， but each quatrain does follow a certain pattern. In the even-numbered lines， there are four feet per line， which is called iambic tetrameter. The second and fourth lines of each stanza have three feet， which is called iambic trimeter. So the lines with 8 syllables or 6 syllables twist and weave together consisting of the whole structure of the poem， a grave-like structure. According to Abbott’s analysis， burial vaults at that time were “once formed by two parallel dry-stone walls， six to eight feet apart， six to eight feet high. ... The entire structure was banked with earth and sod and grassed over， creating Dickinson’s imagined grave.” （Abbott， 142） Under the construction of these lines with the similar proportion， the structure of this poem possesses a resemblance with the claustrophobic grave. And those dashes which make each word and each line extended look like pairs of outstretched arms sticking out of the grave walls and asking for help. These hands long to escape from death by trying to grasp something tangible of the past so as to retrieve time and life. Meanwhile， narrator’s efforts and struggle to return to the past and resist against death are embodied.
Except for this role that dash plays， other functions of it are also required to notice. As one of the remarkable characteristic of her writing： Dickinson never uses dash randomly nor unconsciously. She knows clearly where to put and where not to. In the common sense， dashes in Dickinson’s poetry often “disrupt and/or complicate the meanings of her sentences， constructing subordinate， fragmentary meanings within those sentences， and even building indeterminacies （or multiplicities） inside them.” （Miller， Wayne， 167） The frequent attendance or the silent absence of dashes also shoulders different duties. For instance， when the past is described， the combination of dash and enjambment further prolongs the sustainability of actions by expanding these actions like “stop” “held” “drove” “pass” “strove” into many lines： “We passed the school， when Children strove/ At Recess—in the Ring—.” From this form， a sense of continuity and a sense of extension are shaped. This form of extension can be deemed as an attempt to evade from death. When the poet resorts to dash and enjambment， to some extent， she makes the narrator a resident in the joints created by them， where narrator could indulge herself in the past as if never leaves. More than that， even some places without the presence of dash also have their certain function. In her another celebrated death poem “I felt a Funeral， in my Brain”， the last line is “ And Finished knowing—then—”. When this line is read， the readers have to decide where we are left waiting after an elliptical condition. Henceforth， different divisions set by dashes create two possibilities. “In this first possibility， the speaker’s death becomes the definite end to her knowing， and thus her living. In the second， after the end of her limited， earthly knowledge， the speaker encounters a kind of knowing that can’t be communicated ， one that can be hinted at only by an open ending.” （Miller， Wayne， 167） Possibilities signify hope. In that poem， the appearance of dash indicates the possible turning and possible hope in the future so as to revolt against the predetermined ending. On the contrary， in this poem， there is no such dash in the last line. The absence of dash directly implicates that there are no other alternatives for narrator， for poet， and for every human being. The ultimate sense of death is the same to everyone： no time， no life， no existence， but spiritual everlasting emptiness. Compared to this， every passing minute in the subcelestial life is invaluable.
In fact， Emily Dickinson once mentioned this concern in her letters to friend： “it is hard for me to give up life.” （67） The whole poem of “Because I could not stop for death” contains 24 lines. The ratio of past tense to presents tense is 22：2. The past tense represents “my” longing past life， while the present tense indicates the current situation， which is the external eternity outside time. Through changing these two tenses， human’s world and the death world exists parallel with each other and the boundaries between life and death， time and eternity are blurs. Under the structure of tense， through the images Dickinson depicts and the literary she applied， the poet successfully sheds a spotlight on the value of earthly life and expresses her resistance against death， the one which is highly glorified by the her contemporary culture at the same time.
References：
[1]Abbott， Collamer M. Dickinson’s Because I could Not Stop for Death， The Explicator， Vol. 58. No. 3：140-143[J].
[2]Dickinson， Emily. Letters of Emily Dickinson： 2 vols. Ed. Mabel Loomis Todd[J]. Boston： Little， Brown， 1984：67.
[3]Martin， Wendy. The Cambridge Introduction to Emily Dickinson[M]. Cambridge University Press， 2007.
[4]Miller， Cristanne. Emily Dickinson： A Poet’s Grammar. Cambridge， Massachusetts， and London： Harvard University Press[M]. 1987.
[5]Miller， Wayne. “Dickinson’s Dashes and the Free-Verse Line”. Quoted， A Broken Thing： Poets on the Line， edited by Rosko， Emily， and Zee， Anton Vander， University of Lowa Press[M]. 2011：146-149.
[6]Farland， Maria Magdalena. “That Tritest/Brightest Truth”： Emily Dickinson’s Anti-Sentimentality[J]. Nineteenth-Century Literature， 1998.
[7]Shmoop Editorial Team. Because I could not stop for Death Form and Meter[OL]. https：//www.shmoop.com/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death/rhyme-form-meter.html. Shmoop University， Inc.， 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Dec 2019.
[8]Wang Yongmei. Time in Emily Dickinson’s Death Poems （時态的交响乐：艾米莉·狄金森死亡诗歌中的时间观）[D]. Journal of Southwest University （Social Science Edition）， Vol. 37， No. 1.Jan. 2011：141-145.
【作者简介】韩铭，华东师范大学。