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Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

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 grew quivering and chill
For only Gossamer, my Gown
My Tippet only Tulle

He 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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