Because I Could Not Stop For Death (Poem) Summary
Emily Dickinson

Because I Could Not Stop For Death (Poem) Overview

“Because I could not stop for Death” is a six-stanza ballad meter poem by American poet Emily Dickinson. First published posthumously as a heavily edited version in 1890, scholars believe the poem was written around 1863, when Dickinson was at the height of her poetic production. It was first published as Dickinson originally wrote it in 1955. In the years since its publication, the poem has become one of Dickinson’s best-known works for its unusual treatment of death as a seemingly tranquil carriage ride. The poem features many distinctive characteristics of Dickinson’s writing, including unusual capitalization and punctuation and the poet’s fixation with themes of death and eternity.