“Because I could not stop for Death”

 This poem was interesting to me because despite already knowing about it I had never actually read it before. It’s one of those kinds of classic literature where practically everyone knows a specific part of it - in this case the first two lines - but none of the context. Whenever I’ve seen this poem referenced it’s always been in the way of having escaped death. Something along the lines of getting through a near-death experience and then quoting the lines. But that isn’t really what the poem is about - the narrator does die in the end, it seems. The last two lines say, “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads/Were toward Eternity” (lines 23-24), which to me indicates that the ride that she’s taking is just a metaphor for death. It’s just always interesting to me how some things can be completely stripped of their context.

Another thing that I found interesting about the poem is how Death is portrayed. The narrator says that “He kindly stopped for me” (line 2), that “He knew no haste” (line 5), and specifically notes “His Civility” (line 8). All of these indicate someone very kind, patient, and gentle in addition to how Death apparently took the narrator’s soul - gradually and gently, with plenty of time to come to terms with it. I have seen Death being portrayed this way before, but on the whole it was when Death was female, Death as a gentle, maternal figure. Some examples I can think of are Death of the Endless from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, Lady Death in Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, and “Death,” a painting by Janis Rozentals. 

It really isn’t common, in my experience, for Death to be shown as been kind as gentle while also being male. Generally the best a male Death gets is being completely neutral - not cruel but also not kind.