What are the connotations in this poem?

To fully answer this question, one must understand what
the term connotation means. A connotation is when a second meaning of a word is used in
combination with the explicit meaning.

As for the
connotations in Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for death", there are a few
that can be justified.

1.  The personification of Death (as
notated by the capitalization of the "D" to give Death and proper name) depicts death as
both an abstract idea and a concrete one. Abstractly, death is something that happens to
someone; it is used as a primary understanding in this
sense.

As for the secondary (underlying) meaning, Death can
be understood as a person who can travel with us. "He" can, in a sense, befriend us so
that lose our fear of him.

2. The setting sun in the poem
also has two very distinctive meanings. First, the image of the actual setting sun
brings to mind the close of a day.

The secondary meaning,
when used in context of the poem, defines the end of life. As the sun sets darkness sets
over everything. Here, the darkness which comes with the setting sun represents the
coming of death- when darkness comes for good.

3. One final
connotation Dickinson sets up is the imagery depicted in the fourth
stanza.

We
paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the
ground;

Here the speaker
states that they pass a house. As readers, one can clearly understand the meaning of a
house- a place where people live. The connotation exists in the second line: "a swelling
of the ground." Instead of picturing a home (built of brick or wood) one can see that
the speaker is looking at a grave.

A grave represents the
eternal home one goes to after death.