The line 'Because I could not stop for Death - He kindly stopped for me' demonstrates which device?

• A. Personification
• B. Allusion
• C. Death of the persona
• D. Metaphor

Answer: (C)

Personification is being tested here: the poem gives Death human qualities. In the line, Death is treated as a person who can act with intention, described as “He” who “kindly stopped for me.” That makes Death feel like a character in a scene, capable of kindness and choice, rather than an abstract force. This human portrayal invites readers to see mortality as a quiet, almost courteous journey rather than something terrifying.

Context helps: Dickinson often makes Death a companion in her poetry, using personification to explore life and what comes after. Allusion would involve referencing a specific work or myth, which isn’t happening here. A straight metaphor would compare Death to something else without presenting a full, acting figure; but the line gives Death agency and behavior, which is characteristic of personification. The idea of “death of the persona” isn’t how this line operates—the speaker is still alive in the scene, encountering Death as a visitor, not showing the speaker’s own death at that moment.

So the device at work is personification: Death is given human traits and a human role within the scene.