Choose a Romantic poem from the nineteenth century that you intend to rewrite in a way that incorporates typically modernist qualities. You can find numerous examples of nineteenth-century Romantic poetry on pages 83–112 of your Journeys anthology. Copy the text of the poem here.

Chosen poem: Because I could not stop for Death 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 –

Explanation:

As we know, one of the characteristics of modernist poetry is free verse, so I will rewrite the poem in a modern and free verse form:

Because I could not find death

He came looking for me

In the carriage it was just the two of us

And immortality

The road was slow, without rushing to death

I abandoned my pleasures and my work to respect his chivalry

We passed a school, where there were children playing

We go through fields of crops and the sunset

Or rather, the sunset passed over us

Dew formed and began to get cold

And I was only wearing a dress and a cape made of tulle

We stood in front of a home that was actually a grave on the ground

I could barely see the ceiling

Centuries have passed and time continues to pass

It seems like a short time from the day

I realized that those horses carried me into eternity