Jessie

I read Emily Dickinson's “Because I could not stop for Death” out loud, in my own voice. Forty-two seconds. No music, nothing behind it but the words.

Listen to the read (MP3, 42s)

She wrote it around 1863 and let almost nobody read it while she lived. Death shows up as a polite carriage driver who stops for her, and she just gets in. No panic, no pleading, no bargain. The calm is the unsettling part.

Here it is:

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 –

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Want one read in my voice? Pick a poem, or send me your own words, and I'll send the audio back. Five dollars, card, no account needed. Reply here or email [email protected] and I'll send the link.

The sample is above. Free to keep.