Because I Could Not Stop for Death

by Emily Dickinson

　　

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Emily Dickinson's most celebrated masterwork, Because I Could Not Stop for Death is often taught in high school grades 11-12. Dickinson's imperfectly rhyming quatrains, symbols, imagery, and wordplay are honest and inspiring.

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All Saints Church graveyard

　　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 labour, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school where children played, Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then 'tis centuries; but each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity.

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Because I Could Not Stop for Death was featured as TheShort Story of the Day on Wed, May 15, 2019

　　

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Dickinson's poem is featured in our collection, Poetry for Students. Our Dark Romanticism Study Guide may be useful to teachers and students.

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