Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson (Poem)

Believed to have been written in 1862, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” was first published in 1890, in the anthology Poems. It has since been included in the anthologies The Treasury of the Fantastic: Romanticism to Early Twentieth Century Literature (2001) and Poems Dead and Undead (2014).

 

About Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Although she is now regarded as an important figure in Amercian poetry, her creative efforts were largely unknown during her lifetime. A prolific writer, she penned close to 1,800 poems. She only placed 10 of them with magazines. Unique for her era, these few published poems did not fit the poetic rules in place at the time and were often severely edited before publication.

Many of Dickinson’s poems, deal with death, spirituality, and immortality. Although some of her family and friends may have been aware of Dickinson’s writing endeavors, her poetry may have been somewhat of a guilty secret. After her Death, Dickinson’s sister, Lavina, discovered the hoard of poems, making them public. Sadly, the first Emily Dickson poetry collection was published in 1890—four years after her death.

 

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

by Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – ’tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –

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