Because I Could Not Stop For Death is an eerie, but absorbing evocation of death. Written by Emily Dickinson, it is one of hundreds of poems devoted to death, as she grapples with the philosophical significance of this experience. Her provocative work is particularly characterised by a sophisticated use of language and punctuation, which patently adds depth and meaning. For the female subject of the poem, death is dispassionately met, where the separation of body and spirit is apparent. Existence beyond life is a perpetual "Eternity", signified in the metaphor of journey, as time transcends into an alternate dimension.

In the opening line and title, the notion of "Death" is explicably presented to the reader, as it is positioned at the end of the line and possesses a long dash. These place an enormous emphasis upon the word; as it causes...