Which American poet wrote 'Because I could not stop for Death'?

The American poet who wrote “Because I could not stop for Death” was Emily Dickinson. The poem is commonly identified by its opening line and is one of Dickinson’s best-known meditations on mortality, time, and eternity.

Dickinson wrote most of her nearly 1,800 poems privately, and only a small number appeared during her lifetime. After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia discovered the manuscripts, helping bring the work to editors and readers. Early published versions altered punctuation and capitalization, but later scholarship restored more of Dickinson’s distinctive style.

The poem personifies Death as a courteous carriage driver who arrives to take the speaker on a slow journey. Its calm tone is often contrasted with its unsettling subject. A common mix-up is confusing Dickinson with Walt Whitman or Robert Frost, whose poetry also explores death, nature, and American identity.