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Compare and contrast Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not Stop for Death," with Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

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Compare and contrast Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not Stop for Death," with Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." In what ways are these poems similar and how do they differ in tone, style, subject matter, and theme?

Because I could not stop for Death"

BY EMILY DICKINSON (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

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 -

 

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

BY ROBERT FROST (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound's the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.