My Number by Billy Collins

In My Number by Billy Collins, it seems that the narrator is asking if "death" himself has "had trouble with the directions" to his house. It seems as though the narrator is waiting on Death to come and take him. He uses words such as reaching, breathing, and loosening, as if Death was a person who constantly caused trouble for others, leading them to their death. Though he talks about Death committing all of these crimes, never once in the poem did he seem afraid or nervous for Death, rather more anxious. The last line, where the narrator states that he will begin talking his way out of this, is the only hint of fear observed. It's as if he will calmly make conversation with Death upon his arrival, and at the same time, attempt to maneuver his way out of Death's hold.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson is very different from In My Number. Unlike the narrator from that poem, the woman in this poem is traveling with Death. She has already been captured and his walking with him towards the afterlife. Like the narrator in In My Number though, she has no fear or nervousness about Death. Death seems to be almost a calming character in this poem, as she describes her surroundings with peaceful imagery. It even states that though she was too busy to stop for Death, he came to her, as if death had a respect for the woman. What I did find interesting though, was that she seemed so willing to give up her life to travel with Death towards eternity.

In Death Be Not Proud, by John Donne, it seems that the narrator is almost irritated by Death. He refers to Death sarcastically, asking him rhetorically if he's mighty and proud. He makes Death out to be a soft, gentle character, while it seems Death would rather be known as scary and strong, as in line one, some other people have called him. Donne makes the connection though that Death carries one from this life, to the Christian eternity, allowing peace. He points out that there is nothing dreadful about Death, only the stories and fables from others has built his ego up.

All three poems brought up Death as if he was a human male, why he was always male, that I'm not so sure of. Also, in all three poems, the narrator described Death as calm and peaceful, and never was the narrator afraid or nervous of Death's arrival, as most people are today. Donne did make a good point though; pointing out that Death will only bring you to a peaceful eternity. According to Dickinson, the ride to eternity isn't so bad after all. So why is everyone so afraid of Death? Have we fallen into the trap of believing he is "mighty and dreadful" as Donne sarcastically pointed out? Maybe it's time we take a step back and look at what Death really is trying to do for us, and that is take us to peace when it is our time. Not so scary anymore, is he?

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