英语相关论文ON BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH.doc
ON BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH Abstract:DeathandeternityarethemajorthemesinmostofEmilyDickinsons poems.“BecauseIcouldnotstopfordeath”isoneofherclassicpoems. Throughtheanalysis,thisessayclarifiesinfiniteconceptionsbythe dialecticalrelationshipbetweenrealityandimagination,theknownand theunknown.AndittellswhatseternityinDicksonseyes. Keywords:death,eternity,finite,infinite Introduction EmilyDickinson（1830-1886）,theAmericanbest-knownfemalepoet，was oneoftheforemostauthorsinAmericanliterature.EmilyDickinsons poems,aswellasWaltWhitmans,wereconsideredasapartof”American renaissance”;theywereregardedaspioneersofimagism.Bothofthemrejected customandreceivedwisdomandexperimentedwithpoeticstyle.Shehowever differsfromWhitmaninavarietyofways.Foronething,Whitmanseems tokeephiseyeonsocietyatlarge;Dickinsonexplorestheinnerlife oftheindividual.WhereasWhitmanis”national”inhisoutlook,Dickinson is”regional” EmilyDickinsonwasborninAmherst,Massachusetts,onDecember10,1830. Shelivedalmostherentirelifeinthesametown(muchofitinthesame house),traveledinfrequently,nevermarried,andinherlastyearsnever leftthegroundsofherfamily.Soshewascalled”vestalofAmherst”. Andyetdespitethisnarrow-somemightsay-pathologicallyconstricted-outward experience,shewasanextremelyintelligent,highlysensitive,anddeeply passionatepersonwhothroughoutheradultlifewrotepoems(addupto around2000)thatwerestartlinglyoriginalinbothcontentandtechnique, poemsthatwouldprofoundlyinfluenceseveralgenerationsofAmericanpoets andthatwouldwinherasecurepositionasoneofthegreatestpoetsthat Americahaseverproduced. $False$ Dickinsonssimplyconstructedyetintenselyfelt,acutelyintellectual writingstakeastheirsubjectissuesvitaltohumanity:theagoniesand ecstasiesoflove,sexuality,theunfathomablenatureofdeath,thehorrors ofwar,Godandreligiousbelief,theimportanceofhumor,andmusings onthesignificanceofliterature,music,andart. EmilyDickinsonenjoystheKingJamesVersionoftheBible,aswell asauthorssuchasEnglishWRTERSWilliamShakespeare,JohnMilton,Charles Dickens,ElizabethBarrettBrowning,GeorgeEliot,andThomasCarlyle. DickinsonsearlystyleshowsthestronginfluenceofWilliamShakespeare, BarrettBrowning,ScottishpoetRobertBrowning,andEnglishpoetsJohn KeatsandGeorgeHerbert.AndDickinsonreadEmersonappreciatively,who becameapervasiveand,inasense,formativeinfluenceoverher.AsGeorge F.Whichernotes,”HersolefunctionwastotesttheTranscendentalist ethicinitsapplicationtotheinnerlife”. 1“death”inEmilyDickinsonspoets Foraslongashistoryhasbeenrecordedandprobablyformuchlonger, manhasalwaysbeendifferentideaofhisowndeath.Eventhoseofuswho haveaccepteddeathgraciously,haveatleastinsomeway,-feared, dreaded,orattemptedtodelayitsarrival.Wehavepersonifieddeath- asanevildoerdressedinallblack,itspresenceswoopsdownuponusand chokesthelifefromusasthoughitweresomestreetmurderwithmalicious intent.Butinreality,weknowthatdeathisnotthechaoticgrimreaper offairytalesandmythology.Ratherthanbeingacruelandunfairprankster ofevil,deathisanunavoidableandnaturalpartoflifeitself. DeathandimmoralityisthemajorthemeinthelargestportionofEmily Dickinsonspoetry.Herpreoccupationwiththesesubjectsamountedtoan obsessionsothataboutonethirdofherpoemsdwellonthem.Dickinsons manyfriendsdiedbeforeher,andthefactthatdeathseemedtooccuroften intheAmherstofthetimeaddedtohergloomymeditation.Dickinsons isnotsheerdepictionofdeath,butanemphaticoneofrelationsbetween lifeanddeath,deathandlove,deathandeternity.Deathisamust-be-crossed bridge.Shedidnotfearit,becausethearrivalinanotherworldisonly throughthegraveandtheforgivenessfromGodistheonlywaytoeternity . 
