Emily DickinsonÆs ôBecause I could not stop for deathö and John DonneÆs ôDeath be not proudö are both poems that reflect upon the poetsÆ personal concept of death. Both poets speak of death as if it were a person, Dickinson speaking of it in the third person and Donne directly addressing it. Dickinson, writing in the nineteenth century, views death from the perspective of time, whereas Donne, writing in the 17th century, views it from the perspective of its relative position with respect to eternity.
In DickinsonÆs poem, the lines are short, almost clipped, so the stanzas are brief. Her rhyme scheme is inconsistent, with most stanzas rhyming in the ABCB pattern but some not rhyming at all. The stanza structure influences the sound of the poem substantially. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, with the second syllable of every foot accented. The short lines sound sing-songy, especially the lines that rhyme. This effect is emphasized by the alternating 8-syllable and 6-syllable lines. Her poem is an ode, paying homage to death. It does not have a fixed form, but is in a non-traditional format and would be classified as blank verse. It somewhat resembles a sonnet but does not adhere to any of the traditional sonnet structures; it has 20 lines instead of 14 and does not follow any of the sonnet rhyming schemes such as Shakespearean, Italian, or French, although it has the general form of a sonnet and approximates the number of syllables per line.
DonneÆs poem is a traditional Shakespearean sonnet, having 14 lines in the standard sonnet structureùthree quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet. Its rhyme structure is ABBA ABBA CDDC AA. The stanza structure in terms of its rhyming does affect the sound of the poem, as the hearer catches the rhyme scheme and anticipates it. The meter is irregular, which also affects the sound. The number of syllables per line varies throughout, which prevents a sing-song
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