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-
My life closed twice before its close-
It yet remains to see
If immortality unveil
A third event to me
So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of Heaven,
And all we need of Hell.
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires a sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory
As he deafeated-dying-
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!
I never saw a moor-
I never saw the sea-
Yet I know how the heather looks
And what a billow be.
I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven-
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the checks were given-
The soul selects her own society-
Then-shuts the door-
To her divine majority-
Present no more-
Unmoved-she notes the chariots-pausing-
At her low gate-
Unmoved-an Emporer is kneeling-
Upon her mat-
I've known her-from an ample nation-
Choose one-
Then-close the valves of her attention-
Like stone-
There's a certain slant of light,
Winter afternoons-
That oppresses, like the heft
Of cathedral tunes-
Heavenly hurt, it gives us-
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the meanings, are-
None may teach it-any-
'Tis the seal despair-
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air-
When it comes, the landscape listens-
Shadows-hold their breath-
When it goes, 'tis the distance
On the look of death-
