Because I could not stop for Death

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 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 ‘t is centuries; but each 
Feels shorter than the day 
I first surmised the horses’ heads 
Were toward eternity.

              -Emily Dickinson