Because I could not stop for Death: Poet & Context

“Because I could not stop for Death: Poet & Context”

• Emily Dickinson: An American poet of the 19th century, known for her reclusive lifestyle and the deep and profound themes she explored in her poems.
• Born in 1830 in a Puritan New England town, her introverted personality developed from a young age, and she spent most of her adult life alone and rarely left her family’s home.
• Dickinson only published a handful of her nearly 2,000 poems during her lifetime.
• Those published were often edited heavily to fit the conventional poetry style of the time, losing much of their original style and impact.

Dickinson’s Influence & Contextual Factors

• Dickinson was heavily influenced by Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that advocated for the inherent goodness of people and nature.
• Her poems often deal with death and immortality, themes that come rather from her personal experiences and philosophical pondering than direct religious influence, though she grew up in a deeply religious household.
• Dickinson’s poetic voice can be seen as a form of rebellion against the restrictive social and gender norms of her time.
• A number of her works, including “Because I could not stop for Death,” reflects her intense curiosity about the mystery of death.