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Because I [could]1 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 labour, and my leisure too For His Civility -- We passed the school, where children played, [ At wrestling in a ring]2 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 'tis centuries; but each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Copland, Kagen: "would"
2 Copland: "Their lessons scarcely done"
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Coolidge Adams (b. 1947), "Because I could not stop for Death ", 1980-1, first performed 1981 [ chorus and orchestra ], from Harmonium, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Because I could not stop for death", 1990 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Immortality", 1978 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Jason Bechtold , "Because I couuld not stop for death" [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fania Chapiro (1926 - 1994), "Because I could not stop for death", 1988, from Three songs of death, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "The chariot", 1949-50, published 1951 [ mezzo-soprano, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Because I could not stop for Death", 2007 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "Because I would not stop for Death", published 1951 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Tim Silva , "Because I couuld not stop for death", 2008 [ women's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La voiture", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La carrozza", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 110
Parce que je n'ai pas voulu m'arrêter pour la mort Il s'est arrêté gentiment pour moi. La voiture ne contenait que nous deux Et l'immortalité. Nous avancions doucement, il n'est pas pressé Et j'avais renoncé à Mon travail, et à mon temps libre aussi Par courtoisie envers lui. Nous sommes passés devant l'école où jouaient les enfants Leurs cours à peine finis Nous sommes passés devant les champs de blé qui regardaient Nous sommes passés devant le soleil couchant. Nous nous sommes arrêtés devant une maison qui semblait Un renflement de terre Le toit était à peine visible La corniche n'était qu'un monticule. Depuis des siècles ont passé mais chacun Semble plus court que le jour Où j'ai supposé la première fois que la tête des chevaux Étaient tournées vers l'éternité.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2008 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-09
Line count: 20
Word count: 131