Because I could not stop for Death -- (712)

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Because could not stop Death --

He kindly stopped for me--

The Carriage held but just ourselves--

And Immortality.

We slowly drove--He knew no haste

And I has put away

My labour and my leisure too,

For His Civility --

We passed the School where Children strove

At Recess--in the Ring--

We passed the fields of Glazing Grain--

We passed the Setting Sun--

Or rather--He passes 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 C enturies--and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horse' Heads

Were towards Eternity--

Death, Immortality

Dea

Death personified as a gentleman caller stopping the take the speaker for a carriage ride

Being the 19th Century there must be a chaperone, immortality

d

Death is charming and courteous

Passing through life, life flashing before her eyes

Light, border between life and death

Cold as a corpse

Death conducts her to an open grave, like a groom conducting a bride to a new home

Past tense, she is speaking from Eternity

There is certainty of an afterlife

Poem