Reading 02

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

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 labour, and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where children played
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the fields of gazing grain—
We passed the Setting Sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground—
The roof was scarcely visible—
The cornice but a mound.

Since then—this centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’Heads
Were toward Eternity—

1. The image of death presented in stanza 1 is that of
a. an indifferent driver.
b. a kindly gentleman.
c. an immortal god disguised as a human.
d. none of the above.

2. The main idea of the poem is that
a. death kidnaps its victims and drives away emotionlessly.
b. death is dull; its chief torment is boredom.
c. death is a gentle timeless journey, simply leaving life’s cares behind.
d. death is an eternity.

3. In stanza 2, the word haste can be defined as
a. sorrow.
b. hurry.
c. guilt.
d. emotion.

4. The image described in stanza 4 most closely represents
a. a blurring of life and death.
b. an inability of the dead to focus on the world of the living.
c. a description of the grave.
d. a last image of security one sees before one dies.

5. One can infer from the tone of the poem that
the speaker
a. views Death as a pleasant companion.
b. views Death as an intruder.
c. views Death as a figure of authority.
d. views Death as an intimate friend