Category: Because I Could Not Stop For Death

The Shop Around The Corner

9/10/2026

’Twas half a fortnight ago this present day that I ventured to the heart of this metropolis to visit one library and three bookstores in what turned out to be a glorious, curious, so strange, very odd day! In yesterday’s shocking segment of the saga, Episode 1, Scene 4, I virtually collapsed into a heap upon the floor of the non-fiction collection and juddered. The scene can be summed up thusly:

Because I could not catch my breath
I kind of gasped for air –
The catalog held very few
Of tomes that should be there –

In a moment of undaunted courage, I grounded my footing, took deliberate and measured steps, and crossed the expanse to the reference desk where a kindhearted and accomodating reference librarian smilled and offered assistance. “May I help you?” she asked.

Her simple, supportive gesture allowed me to come up for air. I shook of the fog as cobwebs lifted from my mind – or perhaps it was the other way around, I shook off the cobwebs and the fog lifted. Regardless, upon hearing her heartfelt offer to help, I was able to recalibrate and emerge from my mental funk. I had defied the gravity of defeat! The details are HERE.

At this point, my glorious, curious, so strange, very odd day advanced.

I slowly strolled - I knew no haste
For I had counted on
My labor and my leisure too,
For My Frivolity –

I passed the shop, a Treasure trove
With used books – on the Shelves –
I passed the Bistro with the soup –
I passed the Antique Books –

I paused before a Shop that seemed
To Sell more modern Tomes –
The Books of Verse quite visible –
The Options – clearly shown –

Yes, dear reader, in my final stop of the day, I ended up in “the shop around the corner” from the library, and as I entered the establishment, I spied the inventory of poetry books front and center – well, actually to my left. And there on the shelves staring back at me, one volume of Thomas Johnson’s The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (which the main branch of the library needed) AND Cristanne Miller’s The Letters of Emily Dickinson (which none of the library’s branches had). I almost pulled them from the shelves to purchase them to march them over to the library that day – but I remembered the reference librarian’s prudent counsel, “Email her first” (the Collections Manager, whose business card she handed me).

So I postponed my purchase, and upon my return home, I sent an email of inquiry.

Since then - 'tis just a Week - and yet
Feels longer than the Day
I first surmised the Po’try Shelves –
Were late Slips gone astray –

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Shadow of Itself

9/5/2026

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Yesterday, I began boldly blogging the bizarre bits of bizarreness that befell ereyesterday, nine-three-twenty-six, a date which will live in aphony, figuratively speaking.

STOP THE PRESSES: Before I blog on, I believe my declaration above with its corresponding adverbial phrase (“a date which will live in aphony, figuratively speaking”) rates a “3” on the Pinder Pun Scale, “Category 3 puns are so witty, so clever, that you can’t help but admire the intellect of the punster. These puns are very rare.” I’m speechless.

OH EM GEE – I did it again!

START THE PRESSES: Let’s move on, shall we?

Thursday, September 3, 2026, was an weird day for me, indeed. I began chronicling the day’s bizarre events yesterday HERE, with “Episode 3, The Lady Appeared.” Today I shall begin at the beginning, then I will go on until I come to the end – and then I will stop. Today’s account, Episode 1, Scene 1, “Shadow of Itself,” recounts the first bit of madness I encountered, one that foreshadowed stranger things to come.

I had visited the main branch of our regional library that morning to speak with someone about the possibility of presenting an upcoming program. While I was there, I decided to check out what Dickinson books they had on the shelves.

One of the first titles that caught my eye was The Poetry Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained.

“Shirley,” I said to a non-existent presence named “Shirley,” “they must have Dickinson in there.”

I pulled the book from the shelf and turned to the index (or maybe it was an appendix?). There between “pp.162-165 Charles Beudelaire” and “pp.182-187 Robert Frost,” there was “pp.166-169 Emily Dickinson” (I’ll have to return one day to figure out what happened to page 170 to 181).

Then I spied something that was simultaneously both oddly curious and curiously odd. I felt light-headed and had to grab onto the upright column support of the shelving unit to steady myself. There, next to Dickinson’s name in the entry, the editor wrote, “excerpts from ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’ from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Cambridge, Mass.”

Could this be true? Did the book contain only “excerpts” from “Because I could not stop for Death” and not the entire poem?

I turned to page 168 and almost fell on the floor. At the top of the page, the first two lines appear at a header: “BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH—/HE KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME.” At the bottom of the page was the final stanza:

Since the – ’tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Head
Were toward Eternity –

I could not believe that editors did not include the entire poem in the book. They included the twenty words of the final stanza. However, in the index (or perhaps an appendix?), they used over fifty words to acknowledge copyright information. In other words, they used MORE text to recognize publishers and copyright dates than they used for the poem.

And who puts “EXCERPTS” of “Because I could not stop for Death” in a book about poetry? Who DOESN’T print the entire poem? (I’m screaming here, peeps, if by chance you haven’t picked up my tone.) In this book, on page 168, Dickinson’s poem became a…

SHADOW OF ITSELF!

(Hence the name of Episode 1, Scene 1)

Oh, the editors do discuss the poem BRIEFLY on the facing page, particularly related to the poet’s use of dashes, but here’s another peculiar point about page 169: The author-editors discuss how unconventional formatting and “visual effects” on the page can help to accentuate and emphasize a poet’s message – using Dickinson’s dashes as a starting point – but then there’s no mention of E. E. Cummings? And maybe I’m being too persnickety here, but in the fourth box at the top of page 169, they mention that “typography variation” could include “upside-down text.”

Now, I’m not saying that no poem has ever included “upside-down text,” but how common is that? I think I’ve seen poems that spiral on the page – but upside-down text? I can’t recall any I’ve seen.

Okay, I’m being nit-picky. Let’s get back to the flagrant faux pas – the goof, the gaffe, the major misstep – the inclusion of “excerpts” from “Because I could not stop for Death.” This was more than a slight slip-up. It was a monumental blunder.

By the way, Dickinson is mentioned several other times in the book. A few examples are below:

Speaking of "Because I could not stop for Death," the library also had on its shelves a book entitled "Three Centuries of American Poetry." The volume includes 40 pages of poetry by Dickinson with about 100 poems. However, it does not include "Because I could not stop for Death," perhaps her most famous poem of all.

Which blunder do you think is more monumental -- including "excerpts" of the poem -- OR -- not including it at all?

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Title Role -- Part 2

7/20/2025

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Yesterday’s post included a “play-at-home challenge”: I shared four of Dickinson’s poems, and you had to give them titles to see if you could match the names for the poems as suggested by Thomas Wentworth Higginson back in 1890.

When it came to matters of editorial policy in the early years of publishing Dickinson’s poetry, providing titles for the poems was one area on which Mabel Loomis Todd disagreed with Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

“Upon this subject,” wrote Todd, “we never wholly agreed.”

‘Twas Higginson who was pro-title, by the way.

Before I disclose the titles for the four poems (“I meant to have but modest needs,” “I lost a world the other day,” “The bee is not afraid of me,” and “A little road not made of man”), let me mention one of Higginson’s titles that has always baffled me – and you can let me know if I am being too persnickety about this. The poem is “Because I could not stop for Death.” Higginson dubbed that poem “The Chariot.”

Of course, as “the Horses’ Heads / Were toward Eternity,” I could see where Higginson might envision a chariot. However, in the third line of the poem, Dickinson clearly states that Death’s mode of transportation was a carriage, not a chariot.

Am I nitpicking?

By the way, in the comparison above (original vs. 1890 version), did you notice that Todd and Higginson changed the third stanza to make it rhyme – AND – they omitted the fourth stanza completely?

I digress. Back to the four poems for the “play-at-home challenge”:

For the poem “I meant to have but modest needs,” Higginson suggested the title “A PRAYER OF THE LOWLY.” That poem appeared in the second series of Dickinson’s poems (published in 1891), and the two editors compromised and used the title “A PRAYER.”

For the poem “I lost a world the other day,” Higginson suggested the title “A WORLD WELL LOST”: “Thereby to my mind,’ Todd protested, “entirely misrepresenting the thought.” Todd compromised with Higginson, and they used the title “LOST.”

For “The bee is not afraid of me,” Higginson suggested “AT HOME.” Todd noted in her journal, “the gist of that poem lies in the last two lines, which ‘At Home’ never touched.” Todd won that battle, and no title was used.

“One more title I had to strike out because it did not apply,” wrote Todd, was “IN THE WOOD” for the poem “A little road not made of man.” Todd noted that a road in the woods was not intended, but instead “that airy highway whereon a bee and butterfly pursue their invisible business.” Again, no title was provided.

How did you do with your titles? If you matched all four with Higginson’s suggestions, then congratulations! You have just won a 1970 four-door AMC Gremlin – your choice of color – with a Levi jeans interior!

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Waltz Around the Clock

9/28/2020

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If you were to write a song based on Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death," what would it sound like?

Would it be a dirge? A tango? A march?

There are funeral marches. Perhaps the most famous funeral march was written by Frederic Chopin (at the right).

Would you sing it to the tune of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song? (at the left)

Well, I sat at the piano a few years ago, and I wrote a song based on "Because I could not stop for death" -- and it ended up being a waltz. A wicked waltz. A wickedly audacious waltz.

By Emily Dickinson:

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 –

For the most part, I have finished writing the music, and the pages are shown below.

Click the images to enlarge.

I see some corrections I have to make to the fourth page, so I'll upload a correct copy of the page soon. I'll also look it over to see if there are other corrections to make too.

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The Shop Around The Corner

Shadow of Itself

Title Role -- Part 2

Waltz Around the Clock

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