Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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
–Emily Dickinson