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Because I couldn't stop for Death ...By Emily Dickinson (Great Poetry Workshop)

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.

Style / type: 
Structured: Western
Editing stage: 

Comments

I like this poem as it spots a different light on death and I consider it great for this reason and more which you , dear friends would easily find out. I am sure it is not new for most of you especially for those who read Dickinson before. It is just a reminder of a great piece by a great poetess- Lol , I am a bit biased here to female poets :)
Please enjoy the read...

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Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

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author comment

Hi Rula,

How did you choose this poem from her prolific collections? This is indeed a smashing poem and a little off the wall, but she was considered eccentric!
The personification of death is clever and she follows through this idea to the last stanza. I like the way she has the theme of death and immortality expressed in quite ordinary terms. In a way, death could be a 'boyfriend' that's calling to collect her. She's sort of expecting him. She also handles these ideas without any reference to religion- considering the time frame (mid 19th century)- is interesting.
I consider this a GREAT poem and she has written (in my opinion, other writes that would qualify for that title.) It is subjective of course. Thanks anyway for sharing this.

Ells :)

Many thanks for visiting.
I am not sure how I chose this one. I think the way that Dickinson presented Death is very special here. I don't think many writers would present death in such an optimistic view. I think this what attracted me most.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
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author comment

I agree. I love the jauntiness of the poem, very different view of death. Lovely poet. Not afraid to shake the camphor out of the old mourning clothes of the time. Is that part of something which makes some poems great from a different viewpoint- the ability to make us look at things differently, like a skilled painter or photographer?

Jenifer Jaspa James

Oh this is one I already love, its wistful presence
seduces the mind into the atmosphere of the
ephemeral quality of life, its glimpses of
reality as we pass through on our way
to the inevitable, and the beyond, unknown.

Not only does it seduce the thoughts,
but also our sense of rhythm and rhyme,
as it falls gently off the tongue, like the
floating through the air of ashes from a fire,
ending in the conclusion eternity.
Yes this is eternity in all its greatness.

Great Poem, by a great poet. Ann.

"The image of yourself which you see in a mirror Is dead,
but the reflection of the moon on water, lives." Kenzan.

I can't agree more . Your words are not less great. I am really happy that you like it.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
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author comment

Just wanted to let you know that I agree,
this is a great poem !!!

Richard

That's why I chose it.:)
Thanks for dropping in and sharing.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
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author comment

I almost wish I'd written this lol. But the imagery ,rhyme, rhythm........all fit together well. The subject is universal and the wording is plain. Also the fact that it's not very long helps make it memorable.

I' think I've said before that I'm not well read in poetry so this IS new to me...............stan

Short this is one of hers that's short, but I have it so well translated by a N. poet, I cannot fidn the original now, I shall try:-

Å leva ..................................To live
er så utfordrande................is so challenging
det vert..................................there is
lita tid.....................................little time
til anna...................................for anything else.

I LOVE that. don't you folks?
Ann.

"The image of yourself which you see in a mirror Is dead,
but the reflection of the moon on water, lives." Kenzan.

short poem dear Anna,I love it too.
Thanks for sharing

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

author comment

That is gorgeous. I will have to copy it and write it above my desk.

Jenifer Jaspa James

Thanks lol

*Collaborative Poetry Workshop* American Version of Japanese Poetry ~ Renga ~ Haiku, Senyru, Tanka.

Neopoet Community

Happy you like it.thanks for the visit

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

author comment

I have printed this little poem and stuck it above my desk at work. Who is it by, please?

Jenifer Jaspa James

I am happy I have introduced a new piece to a prof. just like you. Yes I think this is a quiet
a momorable piece and even memorizable if one wants to. I am happy that it appeals to most of you my friends and meets at the same time the requirements of the workshop.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

author comment

I started to pick one of Emily Dickerson Poem because her poetry are so great. I've heard this poem title before but never read aloud before tonight. I read it twice and I agree it is great one.

I felt like I was in the death carriage driven by horses pass the old house centuries old, the setting sun. superb choice

*Collaborative Poetry Workshop* American Version of Japanese Poetry ~ Renga ~ Haiku, Senyru, Tanka.

Neopoet Community

I also hope to read more of hers . She did a great stuff I believe.
Thanks for the visit and sorry for the delayed reply.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

author comment

Sorry for the belated reply. I can't agree more. Thank you.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

author comment

I've read a lot of Dickinson, even going so far as to do a essay about the sexuality inherent in her work early in my college days. I've loved her since the first poem and still do. I detect a fearlessness that doesn't seem bothered by existential conditions and as a wordsmith she's pretty hard to beat up until at least the confessionals. Great choice of a Great poem.

Ron

Blue Demon77

"What I want is to be what I was before the knife,
before the brooch pin, before the salve, fixed me in this parenthesis:
Horses fluent in the wind. A place, a time gone out of mind."

The Eye Mote-Sylvia Plath

Glad you liked it she is awesome writer

*Collaborative Poetry Workshop* American Version of Japanese Poetry ~ Renga ~ Haiku, Senyru, Tanka.

Neopoet Community

A beautiful choice, that a poet can look beyond the horses heads and find an eternity having travelled thus far..
Take care out there,
Yours Ian.T

.
There are a million reasons to believe in yourself,
So find more reasons to believe in others..

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