Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?
I found the language Dickinson used to desrcibe death really interesting. Dickinson wrote, "BECAUSE I could not stop for Death,/ He kindly stopped for me;" She used the word "civil" to describe him. What!? I've never heard anyone really refer to death as a nice thing. In life, I can only think of a few instances where a person would look at death as kind: when one has a serious and painful illness like cancer and is sick of fighting or if the person is suicidal. I really appriciate the different angle that Dickinson takes on this scary topic. She created a new veiw on a dreaded topic instead of going with the old theme that death is bad. Kudos to you Emily Dickinson.
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Katie Vann on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: I also chose this quote, but i
Jeanine O'Neal on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Well I'll continue this commen
Lauren Miller on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Going off of your blog entry a
Stephanie Wytovich on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Yes, it is strange that Dickin
Angelica Guzzo on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: I chose this same qoute becaus
Dennis G. Jerz on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: To the Christian, death leads
Jeanine O'Neal on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Well I'll continue this commen
Lauren Miller on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Going off of your blog entry a
Stephanie Wytovich on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: Yes, it is strange that Dickin
Angelica Guzzo on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: I chose this same qoute becaus
Dennis G. Jerz on Death is what? Did she just say KIND!?: To the Christian, death leads
To the Christian, death leads to eternal happiness. Note that Dickinson's attitude towards religion was complex -- which is fortunate for us, because if she thought faith was a simple thing, she wouldn't have been driven to try to explain her understanding of faith (and nature, and love) in so many poems.
I chose this same qoute because I too found it to be weird calling death kind. After reading the poem a couple times I started to understand what she meant.
Yes, it is strange that Dickinson is calling death kind. But one has to remember that she does have a dark tone to a lot of her poetry. She talks a lot about death and depression, and I think this has to do with a lot of life. Maybe that is the reason that she looks at death as being kind. Maybe that was her way out?
Going off of your blog entry and Dr. Jerz's comment, I have come to the conclusion that death is all based on personal perception, regardless of religion. I believe in Heaven but I am still afraid to die. Now, in Emily Dickinson's time period, death probably was not seen as being so terrible, especially if you were a Christian. I think that in today's society, death is portrayed as such an awful thing--just listen to the evening news. All that is ever on anymore is car accidents, plane crashes, deaths in the war, children being kidnapped and killed, buildings catching on fire, a new disease that attacks teenagers, etc. I think that we have ruled out in our minds that there is no peaceful way to die. I believe that is why Emily Dickinson's poem (especially the first two lines) seems somewhat shocking to us. Death? Kind? Not in today's society.
Well I'll continue this commenting chain and go off of Lauren's comment. Unlike Lauren, I don't believe in a heaven. Instead, we all exist eternally within existence (science has given it a fancy word- the universe). Life, as we call it, is nothing more than our souls being bound within a body. When we die, our souls are unleashed into the universe where they will continue to live for eternity. So death, in this case, is kind because we are no longer trapped within our bodies, bound to know only those thing which can physically be perceived.
I also chose this quote, but it was for a slightly different angle. I liked the way you looked at this and your opinions on it. I didn't think about how Dickinson was actually looking at death in a postive way, saying how death "kindly stopped for me".