Dickinson Poem for Explication

"Horse-drawn cabs" by Frederick Childe Hassam

Here is the second poem for February 11 explication (see Auden's poem in previous post):

Because I could not stop for Death
by Emily Dickinson

Allen Tate (1899-1979) -- a distinguished American poet, teacher, and critic -– once observed that "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" is an extraordinary poem. In fact, he said, it deserves to be regarded as "one of the greatest in the English language; it is flawless to the last detail."

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 grew 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 but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Tip: Consider that Dickenson's poem has characters, just as in a short story. We have the narrator, Death, Immortality, and the children.