Because I Could Not Stop For Death- Emily Dickinson

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 – 

In this poem, Emily Dickenson is talking from the afterlife. She personifies Death and describes her journey with him. When a reader reads this poem they most likely can picture the grim reaper with the straps of the horse talking a younger lady to death. Throughout the poem she describes everything they went past including the school, fields of grass, and finally  a house. It amazes me to think that the whole time they were on a carriage ride to death. The personification of death adds a sense of creepiness and darkness to it. Overall ,a great poem by Emily Dickenson anf my favorite from her.