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Metaphor in Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Metaphor Examples in Because I Could Not Stop for Death:

Text of the Poem

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"gazing..."   (Text of the Poem)

In a continuation of the symbolic imagery, the fields of grain may represent the labor and maturity of adulthood. While readers may expect the word “grazing” to be associated with fields, the speaker subverts these expectations by describing the grain as “gazing.” This choice shifts focus from the active role of playing children to a more passive viewpoint, as the grain calmly gazes at the carriage as it passes by.

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"A swelling of the ground..."   (Text of the Poem)

The house that is “swelling of the ground” is a metaphor for a gravestone. Referring to this place as a “house” establishes a warm, domestic association with this place: this is not the cold, dark resting place of the dead, but a home that one retires to. This metaphor figures death as a positive experience.

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