Because 'twas Riches I could own,
Myself had earned it — Me,
I knew the Dollars by their names —
It feels like Poverty
An Earldom out of sight to hold,
An Income in the Air,
Possession — has a sweeter chink
Unto a Miser's Ear —
-
-
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
...Could Hope inspect her Basis
Her Craft were done —
Has a fictitious Charter
Or it has none —
Balked in the vastest instance
But to renew —
Felled by but one assassin —
Prosperity —Could I but ride indefinite
As doth the Meadow Bee
And visit only where I liked
And No one visit me
And flirt all Day with Buttercups
And marry whom I may
And dwell a little everywhere
Or better, run away
With no Police to follow
Or chase Him if He do...Could I — then — shut the door —
Lest my beseeching face — at last —
Rejected — be — of Her?Could live — did live —
Could die — did die —
Could smile upon the whole
Through faith in one he met not,
To introduce his soul.
Could go from scene familiar
To an untraversed spot —
Could contemplate the journey
With unpuzzled heart —
Such trust had one...Could mortal lip divine
The undeveloped Freight
Of a delivered syllable
'Twould crumble with the weight.Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell
Be once disclosed to us
The clamor for their loveliness
Would burst the Loneliness —Could — I do more — for Thee —
Wert Thou a Bumble Bee —
Since for the Queen, have I —
Nought but Bouquet?Extol thee — could I? Then I will
By saying nothing new —
But just the truest truth
That thou art heavenly.
Perceiving thee is evidence
That we are of the sky
Partaking thee a guaranty
Of immortality