 Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson A poem first published in 1890; republished with a sixth (original) stanza in the 1950s.1 Now deceased, the speaker recalls the arrival of Death, in the guise of a gentleman caller, and relates him to eternity. 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 Gossamer2 my Gown — My Tippet3 — only Tulle4 — 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. 1 Early editors excised Stanza 4, still not present in some versions but shown in this copyrighted edition, credited here: Reprinted by permission of the publishers and the trustees of Amherst College from THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard Univesity Press, Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. 2 gossamer Dellicate gauze. 3 tippet Shawl- or scarf-like wrap. 4 tulle Machine-made cotton net material, originally intended to simulate lace. PORTRAIT: Emily Dickinson by William C. North (1846-47). CITATION INFORMATION (in MLA format): Dickinson, Emily. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Gleeditions, 17 Apr. 2011, www.gleeditions.com/notstopfordeath/students/pages.asp?lid=301&pg=5. Originally published in The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Harvard U Press, 1998, p. 546. |
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