Because I could not stop for death

About the author

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. In her
poem Because I could not stop for Death, Emily Dickinson depicts a
close encounter with Death and Immortality. Instead of viewing death as
the end of life, Dickinson sees it as a journey into eternal consciousness.
Introduction:
"Because I could not stop for Death" is a lyrical poem , first
published in 1890. The poem was published under the title "The
Chariot". The poem creates the sense that death is unavoidable.
Summary:
The speaker is a woman describing her journey to death. This poem
creates the sense that every person is on the track to death, whether they
know it or not. Death, in the form of a carriage driver, stops to pick up
the speaker. The carriage is used as a metaphor for how people make
their final passage to death. Also, the carriage personifies immortality as
it is the transportation to the next world.
Death and the speaker are taking their time on their journey. The mood
changes as Death and the speaker pass by a children's school. Instead of
being jubilant, the mood is dark as the word "strove" suggests difficulty
and labor. The significance of passing the sun is that in doing so, they
have passed time and left all earthly comfort and suddenly they have
entered a darker, colder world.
Now the poem becomes more cold and sinister as Death is getting
closer. As the night gets older, the speaker gets chilly. Her clothes are
not suited for the coldness. It symbolizes the fact that she is unprepared
for death. The Speaker arrives at her destination, her grave, which is
metaphorically resembled as a house. House is also used as a
euphemism for grave. This suggests that the speaker is comfortable with
dying. The barely visible “Roof” could be a memorial stone laid in the
ground. Finally, the speaker tells us that this all happened hundreds of
years ago but it hardly seems more than a day. 
The deeper meaning in this poem is that life is filled with surprises. The
poem is an expression of the belief that death is only a transition from
mortal life to eternal life.
Meter:
The meter alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The
rhyme is scattered unevenly throughout the poem tying the sounds
loosely together.
Tone
The tone of the speaker is relatively calm. Either she was somewhat
prepared for her death or the centuries she has had to contemplate her
death has led to an acceptance of her fate
Theme
Mortality is probably the major theme in this poem. It's all about the
speaker's attitude towards her death and what the actual day of her death
was like.