national poetry month: emily dickinson

For some unknown reason I've had the first lines of this poem--"Because I could not stop for Death –  / He kindly stopped for me – "--stuck in my head for the past few days (maybe because I've been reading Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn).

I've always been curious about Emily Dickinson and her life and I've been meaning to read a good biography of her since my reading of the disappointment that was The Poet and the Murderer (see post). Any suggestions?

Untitled poem 712 by Emily Dickinson (1890)

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 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 –