Death is a Five Letter Word

There's been a Death, in the Opposite House,
As lately as Today --
I know it, by the numb look
Such Houses have -- alway --

The Neighbors rustle in and out --
The Doctor -- drives away --
A Window opens like a Pod --
Abrupt -- mechanically --

Somebody flings a Mattress out --
The Children hurry by --
They wonder if it died -- on that --
I used to -- when a Boy --

The Minister -- goes stiffly in --
As if the House were His --
And He owned all the Mourners -- now --
And little Boys -- besides --

And then the Milliner -- and the Man
Of the Appalling Trade --
To take the measure of the House --
There'll be that Dark Parade --
    
Of Tassels -- and of Coaches -- soon --
It's easy as a Sign --
The Intuition of the News --
In just a Country Town --

-Emily Dickinson

     This poem has a very matter-of-fact feel and discusses death in a very objective way. Since the speaker does not seem to know the deceased or the family of the deceased, the poem is very distanced and tells the story through observation. The speaker is basically just a nosy neighbor watching what is going on from across the street. However, through the line "I know it by the numb look" Dickinson shows that the speaker has dealt with death before and knows what the signs are. She also personifies the house, calling it numb, as if it is still dealing with the shock of the death.

     Then the speaker described the neighbors coming in and out of the house, but the speaker is decidedly not one of them. This is presumably because he did not actually know the people living in the house. The doctor is seen leaving, as he is no longer needed after the death. The abruptness of the window opening can be connected to the abrupt nature of death itself, and mechanically might refer to the way people feel and operate after a death has occurred. The mattress is "flung out" and discarded much as the body of the deceased person will be. The speaker even refers to the deceased as "it", not even referring to a gender and completely dehumanizing them. This implies that death turns a person into an object, just a body. Even though the poet is a woman, the speaker is definitely a man, which is made clear from the last line of the second stanza. 

     The speaker watches the minister enter the house and describes him as "stiff". This connects to the imagery of a stiff dead body and the stark mood of the house. The minister seems to be very egotistical and full of himself because he enters the house "as if it were his, and he owned all the mourners now". This gives a feeling that is very different from the rest of the poem. Most of the poem is very objective, but this stanza very clearly makes judgments about the minister. 

     People keep coming and going from the house. The milliner (hat maker) and a man "of the appalling trade" who appears to be an undertaker both enter the house as well. The man of the appalling trade is there to "take measure of the house" which presumably means that he is beginning to plan the funeral and casket arrangements for the "dark parade of tassels and of coaches". The speaker assumes that the funeral will be very normal and similar to most other funerals. Then he basically says that it is easy to figure out when a death has occurred if you know what signs to look for. He calls it a matter of "intuition". 

     "There's Been a Death in the Opposite House" by Emily Dickinson portrays death in a very unique and mostly apathetic way. It doesn't really describe any emotions following death apart from shock and numbness, it mainly describes the different signs of a death and the constant motion that is left behind. Dickinson very clearly captures how death ceremonies and traditions are not so much about the person who has died, but more about the people who are left behind afterwards.