Harold Bloom, in his work "The Western Canon," labeled Dickinson as having a "passion for unnaming," by which he meant "Death" was not an experience for her. "Death" was Dickinson's companion, and, in this particular poem, a friendly salesman. In the poem's text, he -- "Death"-- is selling "Things," actual items in a sale package. These include a "Room" -- an escape from life; a grave; a plot of earth; and "Escape from Circumstances" -- the escape from life's entanglements. "Death" includes a "Name" -- the name on a tombstone -- as an incentive. This salesman sells escape, refuge and a remembrance of the former self.
Midway through the text, Dickinson -- or perhaps "Death" -- experiences a sea change, and the offerings are no longer for sale but are "Gifts" freely given. It is as if "Death" becomes Dickinson's gift giver, because the poet no longer needs to be sold on the package -- perhaps she is already dying. It is also possible that "Death" is bargaining, offering the grave freely as an incentive, since the customer is reluctant to pay. Dickinson may be wondering if the offer is legitimate; after all, she has no knowledge of what these gifts are really like. Dickinson knows that the price to find the truth about death is the loss of life.
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" gives clues to Dickinson's hesitation: Hamlet is also obsessed at the moment of his death with leaving behind "a wounded name," and he confirms that Death is an "undiscovered country," everyone's final destination. These universal themes reflect Dickinson's hesitation; her last lines show a fear of her "Name" left behind, the "Escape" every person goes to and the possible emptiness of the "Room," because everyone on Earth shares these misgivings about the undiscovered country.
The poem ends with the poet balanced on a point of decision: to "put away / Life's opportunities" or to continue living. She wants to know the truth but also does not want to know it. The poem is at once a profound meditation on the nature of dying and a razor-sharp examination of humanity's reluctance to face it.