It Was Not Death for I Stood Up

It Was Not Death for I Stood Up

by Emily Dickinson

It was not Death, for I stood up,
And all the Dead, lie down –
It was not Night, for all the Bells
Put out their Tongues, for Noon.

It was not Frost, for on my Flesh
I felt Siroccos – crawl –
Nor Fire – for just my marble feet
Could keep a Chancel, cool –

And yet, it tasted, like them all,
The Figures I have seen
Set orderly, for Burial
Reminded me, of mine –

As if my life were shaven,
And fitted to a frame,
And could not breathe without a key,
And ’twas like Midnight, some –

When everything that ticked – has stopped –
And space stares – all around –
Or Grisly frosts – first Autumn morns,
Repeal the Beating Ground –

But most, like Chaos – Stopless – cool –
Without a Chance, or spar –
Or even a Report of Land –
To justify – Despair.

Summary of It Was Not Death for I Stood Up

  • Popularity of “It Was Not Death for I Stood Up”: In the poem “It Was Not Death for I Stood Up,” the poet, Emily Dickinson, has put highly unique thoughts into words despite the fact that the poem was published a long time ago in 1891 long after her death. There was a strong possibility that she wrote it a long time ago. Therefore, her death could only be a precursor of her despair and hopelessness, as the poem depicts it successfully. Therefore, it shows the reason behind the popularity of the poem.
  • “It Was Not Death for I Stood Up” As a Representative of Despair and Its Recognition: The poet states that as dead people lie down, she is not lying. Therefore, she is not dead. Also, she knows that it is day due to the sounds of the bells and that she is able to know the weather, the situation, and the situation of the church. Therefore, as she is aware of everything happening around her, she knows that she has tasted all things she has mentioned simultaneously and that she knows that she also has to die someday. Suddenly, the speaker recalls her own body fitted into a frame in a timeless situation she is unaware of, with blankness all around her. At that time, she is fully aware of the surroundings and that she is not going to die – it is only despair that is taking its toll on her. And all her thoughts of such happenings are justifications for this despair.
  • Major Themes in “It Was Not Death for I Stood Up”: Hopelessness, despair, and disappointment are three major themes of this poem. The situation of hopelessness pervades the poem from the very first stanza until she recounts that she has a taste of death, frost, hot weather, and fire. This shows that she is now seeing her own death in such terms but comes to the point that all these situations are just her feelings. Actually, it is her disappointment that is causing her to see death though she knows that she is standing up and that she does not see herself lying down like the dead people. These issues rather justify her thinking of herself as not a dead person as she is quite hale and hearty, but it is true that she is feeling despair and disappointment. Therefore, this theme of the poem emerges in the last line, where she announces that she knows what she is suffering from, and this is despair.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in It Was Not Death for I Stood Up

Emily Dickinson uses several literary devices to create the intended impact of her poem. Some of the major literary devices are as follows.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “It was not death, for I stood up” and the sound of /i/ in “And yet, it tasted, like them all.”
  2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /w/ in “Siroccos – crawl”, the sound of /s/ in “space stares.”
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “When everything that ticked – has stopped” and the sound of /s/ in “And space stares – all around.”
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

And yet, it tasted, like them all,
The Figures I have seen
Set orderly, for Burial
Reminded me, of mine

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Emily Dickinson uses imagery in this poem, such as “It was not Frost, for on my Flesh”, “And yet, it tasted, like them all” and “And could not breathe without a key.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used the metaphor of life as a picture that could be framed or chaos to a mental state.
  3. Simile: It shows a direct comparison of something with something else to make readers understand what it is. The poet has used an indirect simile such as “And yet, it tasted, like them all” as the like shows it is a simile.
  4. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols like death, night, dead, bells, and tongues to show the onslaught of despair.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in It Was Not Death for I Stood Up

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction and Tone: It means the use of language and tone of the language. The poem shows formal language, though its tone is highly ambiguous and rich with meanings.
  2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
  3. Repetition: It means to repeat some words or phrases to emphasize a point. The poet has used “It was not…” several times, as in the first and the second stanzas.
  4. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
  5. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote when telling about the onslaught of despair and disappointment.

But most, like Chaos – Stopless – cool –
Without a Chance, or spar –
Or even a Report of Land –
To justify – Despair.