15 years on: appreciating my high school literature class (6)

Events this week reminded me of the words of Emily Dickinson that I studied in Ms. Apalin-Gaffud's third-year literature class. I wonder if Dickinson's last moment on Earth felt as beautiful as the way she wrote in Because I Could Not Stop for Death. One thing's for certain though: relatives of a dying loved one won't take Death as easily as the way she described it.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

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 to 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 --

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