Emily & Emily

"Song" by Emily Bronte and "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson are so far my two favourite poems about death. In their words, death is gentle, death is courteous, death is not scary.

Bronte's "Song" not only describes death as a "tranquil sleep" (23), but also as I imagine, a sleep on a bed of flowers in a Eden-like forest with "wild deer" (5) and "wild birds" (6) gathering around - just like a scene from a Disney movie. It is such a beautiful idea to think that the constant blow of "west wind"  (25) and "murmur [of] summer streams" (26) will replace the temperamental weeps and sighs. I think this is a very lovely poem that can provide some consolation to people who has lost their loved ones. 

Although we are all aware that it is only a poem, Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" provides a rather favourable suggestion of how one's encounter with Death could be like. Words and phrases like "kindly" (2), "he knew no haste" (5), and "civility" (8) set the tone of the poem and the gentleman-like characteristics of Death.