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 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 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--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
I've considered Emily Dickinson to be a poet of the highest order for many years. If pressed, I would say this gem is one of my favourites.
I enjoy how the poem can aid one in contemplating a restful drive outside of our time-space continuum. Be sure to make note of the number of passengers.
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing that Thomas.
You have to like him.
Three reasons:
1. He's a friend of mine.
2. He's Orthodox.
3. His first two posts are about manly men.
one of my faves from my high school lit class. one of few that I remember.
emily d. is one of my alltime favourites. and not just because of her close association with the early american transcendentalist (whom I also can't get enough of... emerson, thoreau, whitman!!)
she lived the life of an ascetic. she lived life 'close to the bone'.
much of it was very lonely, but it was a loneliness with such purpose.
very ascetic.
Post a Comment