I. Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830 –1886) was an American poet. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although part of a prominent family with strong ties to its community, Dickinson lived much of her life in reclusive isolation. While Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime. The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.

II. Historical Background

1.American Renaissance

American Transcendentalism or “New England Transcendentalism” or “American Renaissance”(1836---1855) was the first American intellectual movement, which exerted a tremendous impact on the consciousness of American people. New England Transcendentalism was, in essence, romantic idealism on Puritan soil. It stressed the power of intuition, believing that people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the five senses and from the inner world by intuition. As romantic idealism, it placed spirit first and matter second; It took nature as symbolic of spirit of God; It emphasized the significance of the individual and believed that the individual was the most important element in society and that the ideal kind of individual was self-reliant and unselfish; It held that commerce was degrading and that a life spent in business was a wasted life. Humanity could be much better off if people paid less attention to the material world in which they lived.

2.Aphorism

An aphorism is a short statement that express a true or wise idea. The meaning of an aphorism should be so broad that it comes across as folklore or established wisdom rather than personal observation. The expression should be compressed beyond the point of immediate accessibility, for an aphorism requires figuring out and thus promotes reflection. Whatever its form, an aphorism should have three qualities (evident in many Dickinson poems): generalization, compression, and memorability.

III. Reading Guide

Dickinson’s famous poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” draws on the sentimental idea of death as a gentle lover escorting his love to a new and blissful home. This poem is a brilliant, extraordinary lyric. It is well constructed, easily understood, and filled with many poetic conventions. The poem mainly focuses on two themes: death and eternity. Death is imagined to be a gentleman who connects with immortality. And the writer herself, as an innocent girl, was moved by the manners of that gentleman -- death. Finally, she and her companion eternity get into the carriage of death. In the whole poem, there is no horrible existence. On the contrary, everything is so quiet, harmonious and warm. It reveals the calm acceptance of life with dignity, grace and how it is welcomed rather feared.

IV. Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Because I could not stop for Death -- He kindly stopped for me -- The Carriage held but just Ourselves-- And Immortality. We slowly drove -- He knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For His Civility-- We passed the School, where Children strove At recess -- in the ring-- We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-- We passed the Setting Sun-- Or rather, He passed Us; The Dews grew quivering and chill-- For only Gossamer, my Gown -- My Tippet -- only Tulle -- We paused before House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground; The Roof was scarcely visible -- The Cornice but a mound -- Since then -- It is Centuries -- and yet each Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' heads Were toward Eternity.

V. Notes

1.gossamer: a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in the air in calm weather, esp. in autumn.

2.Tippet: a scarf, usually of fur or wool, for covering the neck, or the neck and shoulders, and usually having ends hanging down in front.

3.Tulle: a thin, fine, machine - made net of acetate, nylon, rayon, or silk.

VI. Translation

因为我不能停下来等待死神

因为我不能停下来等待死神

他和善地停下来等我——

那辆车只能容我们两个——

还有不朽。

我们慢慢驱车——他不慌不忙

我也把我的劳与闲

统统丢掉一边，

为了他的礼让——

我们走过校园，孩子们你推我搡，

在休息时间，在圆形广场——

我们走过在田间凝眸的麦杆——

我们走过落日旁——

或毋宁说，他走过我们身旁

寒露降，身子冻得打颤——

因为我的长衫落纱般——

我的披肩如丝网——

我们停步在一所房子前，

那似乎是隆起的土地一片

屋顶几乎看不见——

屋檐在地里面——

离那时已是几个世纪

过了还不到一天，

我首次猜测到，马头

在朝向永恒奔窜。