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 —
I had the overwhelming joy of coming across this beautifully written poem. One of my favorite by E.D, this poem is a masterpiece.
When Dickinson says that the day she died felt longer than the centuries she has spent dead mean she has never gone to Heaven? But she says Eternity? Whats going on at the end?
We usually think that death is a very scaringthing,
but in this poem, Emily tells us death can let us review our lives . Death is not a end of life ,but a start of Eternity.
This is one of my favorite poems. Emily Dickinson is a poetry god. I think this poem shows a peaceful side of death. It shows us that death isn’t something to be afraid of. Its very beautifully written and I love it.
The horses are used both symbolically and literally in this poem. In Dickinsons time, your coffin was carried on a wagon by two horses. It was customary for those associated with you to follow behind the wagon to the burial site.
“In another publication of the poem, the last line of the second to last stanza is “It’s cornice but a mound.” Please check your source to ensure accuracy! The poem is too beautiful to be mangled!”
the poem featured on this site is the correct original version, the publication of the poem you refer to is an example of emily’s editors changing her poem’s to make them more conventional, they would prefer “ground” to rhyme with “mound” rather than have the repetition of “ground”.
In another publication of the poem, the last line of the second to last stanza is “It’s cornice but a mound.” Please check your source to ensure accuracy! The poem is too beautiful to be mangled!
I don’t believe I could have been given a better poem to write on. Personification of death and immortality. The break in structure in stanza four that signals realized death. The imagery and symbolism of it. Wonderous death and eternity.
the poem shows the poetess tendency to escape society and choose her own world.It scattered,fragmented and punctuated by dashes which indicate a skeptical mentality.She uses what we call a poetic shock by depending on paradoxical relationship like metaphysical and physical things”Emperor,Gate\her,ston”
Hamlet from Syria
This poem is AWESOME! Please send it to me.
i think this has to be my most favorite poem of all ive ever read.. the symbolism is just so beautiful in my mind.. it is a truly beautiful poem.
In my 10th Grade English class, we are all doing “Poet Presentations,” and we all had to pick a poet from a list and now we have to research them and present them for an entire class period (80 minutes). I was one of the last to pick, and all my first choices were gone, so I chose Dickinson. At first I thought her poems were creepy, but when I really started to delve into them, I realized how awesome her poems are! I like the Riddle Poems, too (the ones you have to figure out the subject of). I am really enjoying reading through and picking poems. Some of my favorites are:
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
I heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
Because I could not stop for Death
The riddle we can guess
“Arcturus” is his other name
Surgeons must be very careful
Good luck to anyone who has an English project on Emily Dickinson, and I hope you enjoy her poetry as much as I have!
It is creepy.She describes death in a way that moves you and sends chills down your spine, yet it is written in a cool, calm and collected manner. Fantastically written, just creepy. I would be terrfied of riding in carriages now
I loved the description of death and the realization of its impending doom on us all. The barely visible house/headstone. Such imagry.
This is a beautiful poem! While reading it I can just see a carriage with death and Emily and her immortality riding acroos the sky–passing her childhood,adulthood,old age, It is getting dark and chills her this is death– the house is a grave with the roof barely visible–been centries since she died only feels like a day –since she surmised the carriage and horses’ head was going to ETERNITY!
I had to memorize this poem 5 years ago my junior year of high school and it has always stuck with me. How vividly Dickison describes deaths journey is amazing
I first read this poem not realizign who it was by. it was excellent and i decided to use it for an assignment in my Eng class. trying to analyze the last line was horrible. but thanks to the earier comment i understand it and i feel good about the way i analyzed the rest of the poem.
I really enjoyed in this poem that death is a journey as well.
When I read this poem intitially, I thought that the scenes of Emily’s “Children strove at Recess”, ” Fields of Gazing Grain”, and ” Setting Sun” could be her reflections on these times in her life as she is experiencing Death as a companion in a “Carriage held but just Ourselves–And Immortality.” In actuallity, I see how they can be references to periods of her life as in childhood, middle age and elder maturity. It appears that the destination was the grave yard but then after deliberating, ther is a implication to heaven when she says “the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity”.
This is one of my absolute favorite poems of Emily Dickinson’s!