The Chariot

The Chariot

Original Text
Poems (1890-1896) by Emily Dickinson: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Original Volumes Issued in 1890, 1891, and 1896, with an Introduction by George Monteiro (Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles).
1Because I could not stop for Death,
2He kindly stopped for me;
3The carriage held but just ourselves
4And Immortality.
5We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
6And I had put away
7My labor, and my leisure too,
8For his civility.
11We passed the fields of gazing grain,
13We paused before a house that seemed
14A swelling of the ground;
15The roof was scarcely visible.
18Feels shorter than the day
19I first surmised the horses' heads
20Were toward eternity.

Notes

9] played: the existing manuscript version of poem 712 reads "strove" (The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin in two volumes (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981: I, 509-10; fascicle 23; PS 1541 A1 1981 ROBA). Back to Line
10] Their lessons scarcely done: the existing manuscript version reads "At recess in the ring". Back to Line
12] The existing manuscript version adds one stanza after this line:
Or rather He passed us.
The dews drew quivering and chill
For only gossamer, my gown,
My tippet, only tulle.
A tippet is a cape or scarf worn on the shoulders, and tulle is sheer silk material. Back to Line
16] cornice: projecting mould that overhangs a roof or wall
but a mound: the existing manuscript version reads "in the ground". Back to Line
17] but each: the existing manuscript version reads "and yet". Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1890
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1997.