Because I would not stop for Death,
Death tried to stop for me;
She placed her hand upon the land—
She touched the fevered sea.
She harvested vast fields of souls—
She struck this Earth with blight;
I hurried past the blasted stalks—
I tuned my fear to flight.
She tried to hold me back; she offered
Entropy and calm—
She curved her hands to scimitar blades,
She touched my nerveless palms.
* * *
I fled to paths between dark stars,
To curves that bisect space—
She followed me, the Lady Death,
And strove to win the race.
In tandem, Death and I pursued
Spin-wheeling galaxies;
We raced at light’s velocity—
We took what we might seize
Of time and space and curvature—
We passed the speed of light
And entered a new Universe
Of Death—of Me—of Night.
* * *
And still we raved with frantic pace—
Attenuated life—
We passed all bounds of consciousness—
Became our mindless strife….
Mere moments have passed, and æons died—
Since I’ve begun to see
My Death and I are lock-embraced
Toward Infinity.
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Michael R. Collings wrote “Because I Would Not Stop for Death” about thirty years ago; this version appears in his collection In the Void (2009). He rewrote the poem in 2016 in an attempt to more fully capture Emily Dickinson’s style as written—not as published. His reputation for scholarship, fiction, and poetry is legendary in the horror community, and he is recipient of the Grand Master Award from the World Horror Convention.
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