“Because I could not stop for Death” features a first-person speaker who recounts her symbolic journey from life to death. We can be reasonably sure that the speaker is female, given that she describes herself as wearing a gown and a shoulder cape (or “Tippet” [line 16]), both of which are typically worn by women. Other than her gender, however, we know little about the speaker. We don’t know how old she was at the time of her death, nor do we know when she died. Indeed, as she notes in the concluding stanza, the speaker has already been dead for “Centuries” (line 21). This means that the speaker is addressing us from far beyond the grave. It therefore makes sense that the speaker recounts her transition from life to death in such a calm and measured way. Note, for instance, that she almost never breaks from the metrical regularity of common meter. Having been dead for so long, she is evidently no longer perturbed by her fate. Thus, even when she describes the discomfort she felt when the sun went down and “The Dews drew quivering and Chill” (line 14), she does so with a sense of emotional distance and resignation.

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