Emily Dickinson's extensive collection of poems on the topic of death can be better understood individually once you take the time to view her works as a whole. By looking at the works as a whole it is possible to derive a probable theological point of view of the author and then apply this theology to the individual works to improve their interpretation. Emily Dickinson's poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is one such poem that, when viewed individually, is open to a wide range of readings. Using Dickinson's other works in collaboration with the poem itself creates a theological point of view through which a more defined interpretation can be reached. Dickinson's poems about death point to a theology that extends the concept of stages of life to stages of death. The stages of life are presented briefly in “Why I Could Not Stop for Death” as the subject of the poem describes the scenes he passes through in a carriage; “the School, where children strove” represents childhood; “The Contemplative Wheatfields” represents maturity; and the old age of the "setting sun" (Shaw). These three stages of life might best be described as the stages of life, as an active and ongoing process through which the stages operate “as a continuum” that “invests these isolated events with meaning.” (Shaw). Dickinson creates balance in these three stages of life by describing three stages of death: dying – death of the body, death – death of the self, and immortality – life in the afterlife. “Death in Emily Dickinson is not singular, nor simple, so that it can be usefully divided” into phases in order to instill the meaning generated by the phases of life into the phases of death (Nesteruk). In Peter Nesteruk's article “The Many Deaths of Emily Dickinson” he describes...... in the center of the paper......and those missed by others are not only brought back to life, but given additional meaning. These transitions allow the reader to “momentarily glimpse a universe in which seemingly distinct and discontinuous stages of existence are implicated and proposed holistically” (Shaw). Works Cited Peter Nesteruk. “The Many Deaths of Emily Dickinson.” The Emily Dickinson Journal 6.1 (1997): 25-43. MUSE project. Network. March 29, 2014. .Spencer, Marco. “Dickinson is WHY I COULDN’T STOP FOR DEATH.” Explainer 65.2 (2007): 95-96. Academic research completed. Network. March 29, 2014. Shaw, MN “Dickinson is because I couldn't stop for death.” Explicator 50.1 (1991): 20. Academic research completed. Network. March 29, 2014.Abbott, Collamer M. "Dickinson's 'Why I Couldn't Stop for Death'." Explicator 58.3 (2000): 140. Academic research completed. Network. March 29. 2014.