In this famous poem Dickinson presents her view of death
as something that is not to be feared, but as something that confers honour upon us, and
also something that levels all humans, no matter what their social class or station in
life beforehand. Note how the first stanza introduces the inevitability of death, but
also how it confers upon death--normally something that is feared and dreaded--a kind of
nobility:
One
dignity delays for all—
One mitred Afternoon—
None can avoid this
purple—
None evade this
Crown!
The dignity of the
title obviously refers to death, and the way that we are told nobody can avoid the
"purple" or the "Crown" link death to something like a coronation, where "purple" is an
unmistakable royal colour and the "Crown" is a symbol of royalty. Obviously Dickinson is
challenging popular perceptions of death. From her religious perspective, death was the
ultimate "dignity" that greets all humans, whatever their station in life, confering
upon them equal honour and glory.
Building on this first
stanza, the second stanza contains the reference to
"Chamber":
readability="12">Coach, it insures, and
footmen—
Chamber, and state, and throng—
Bells, also, in the
village
As we ride grand
along!Dickinson here
deliberately builds upon her description of death as being the ultimate accolade by
describing the trappings that we receive as we achieve this moment of glory and of
honour. In our deaths, Dickinson argues, we gain all of the same recognition and praise
that we normally associate with the death of a high-born person, including a coach and
footmen and the presence of important people from "Chamber, and state, and throng." Thus
through her reference to "Crown" and "Chamber" Dickinson presents death as an equalising
force, where equal honour is confered upon everbody.
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