Which Emily Dickinson poem would be best to use in my research paper? (must have a one page poem explication)?

Answer 1

Because I could not stop for death . . . .

Not only is this one of Emily Dickinson's best poems, it is one of the more interesting ones to write about.

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 playe
At wrestling in a ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then ’t is centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.

Here are just a few ideas to explore:

(1) The way Death is characterized in the poem: "he kindly stopped," "carriage," accompanied by Immortality

(2) The play on the work "stop" in the first two lines: "I could not stop . . ." = I didn't have time in my everyday activities to stop; "he kindly stopped," he called on me, picking me up, as for a date

(3) What they passed on their carriage drive: childhood=schoolyard, adolescence=wrestling, maturity="gazing grain," old age=setting sun

(4) The speaker's reaction to death

Since then ’t is centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.

Enjoy writing the paper. It may be hard to keep it to just one page!

Answer 2

Here is a nice intro:

http://www.bartleby.com/113/100.html


Here is the poem:

http://www.bartleby.com/113/4012.html

I LIKE a look of agony,
Because I know it ’s true;
Men do not sham convulsion,
Nor simulate a throe.

The eyes glaze once, and that is death.
Impossible to feign
The beads upon the forehead
By homely anguish strung.