散文：Because I could not

Because I could not stop for Death -

He kindly¹ stopped for me -

The Carriage held but just Ourselves -

And Immortality².

 

We slowly drove - He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor³ and my leisure too,

For His Civility -

 

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess⁴ - 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 Gossamer⁵, my Gown -

My Tippet - only Tulle -

 

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling⁶ 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 surmised⁷ the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity⁸ -

 

In this poem, death is ironically presented as a well mannered gentleman who would have the patience and time to wait a lady for a quiet and slow carriage drive with the accompany of a chaperon (immorality). Immovability in death is the best evidence of death's withdrawal⁹ from life because of the respect given to one's actions during life. The cessation of mundane¹⁰ activities in life are signified by idle hands of the dead in Death. 

 

Then Emily paints the scenes of what they are going past with references to periods of her life: children playing in the playground during recess (youth), the grain fields gazing at them (maturity) and the setting sun (old age). After the sunset, the dew of night makes her realize it has grown cold. She is getting chilly¹¹ and thereby¹² shivers because she wears only a gossamer gown and a tulle lace cap, hinting this is not an ordinary outing. The poem is about to make a shift away from the pleasant to something more grim when she suddenly realizes that she has stopped being an active viewer, and that she is only now a part of the landscape.

 

Death leads the poet to her earthly burial location, the last sight spot of the land of the living and the end of this horse-drawn carriage journey. Nevertheless, the graveyard¹³ is only the physical destination of the whole wide world, not the post-mortal world in which time flies. A century feels much shorter in length than expected. The future is still ahead there for centuries, while the poet thought at this moment - maybe this carriage was just heading towards eternity.

1 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

2 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

5 gossamer   

n.薄纱，游丝

参考例句：

• The prince helped the princess,who was still in her delightful gossamer gown.王子搀扶着仍穿著那套美丽薄纱晚礼服的公主。
• Gossamer is floating in calm air.空中飘浮着游丝。

6 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

7 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

11 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

12 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

13 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。