favorite poems

449

I died for Beauty--but was scarce
Adjusted in the tome
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room--
He questioned softly "Why I failed?"
"For Beauty", I replied--
"And I--for Truth--themselves are One--
We Brethren, are", he said--
And so, as Kinsmen, met a night--
We talked between the Rooms--
Until the Moss had reached our lips--
And covered up--our names

712

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 --

Explicator article on the poem 712 "Because I could not Stop for Death"

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