Emily Dickinson's I Heard A Fly Buzz: When I Died

The ensuing line states, “He kindly stopped for me” (Line 2). From this, the reader could possibly deduce that the narrator was glad to see death. Dickinson was known throughout her life to have been oddly fascinated with death and immortality, so it’s not out of the question to assume that this fascination was reflected in the narrator’s personality and was why death was welcomed. However, a more likely conclusion is that Dickinson was merely being ironic. Death is ominous as it is a leap into the unknown; we simply cannot fathom the eternity of afterlife. Taking us without consent from our lives (which we already have no power over), and thrusting us into an incomprehensible eternity is not exactly a kind act to commit, thus irony was used in this case. This further strengthens the idea that our lives are out of our control because with or without consent, death will choose to take a life whenever he pleases.

Emily Dickinson's poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died" is centralized on the events of death and is spoken through the voice of the dying person. The poem explores both the meaning of life and death through the speaker and the significant incidents at the time of near death that the speaker notices. Many of Dickinson's poems contain a theme of death that searches to find meaning and the ability to cope with the inevitable. This poem is no exception to this traditional Dickinson theme; however its unusual comparisons and language about death set it apart from how one would view a typically tragic event.

In opposition to “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Dickinson published her work of “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died”. In this particular piece of literature, the author disbeliefs in an afterlife. In this poem, a woman is lying on bed with her family surrounding her, waiting for the woman to pass away. The woman, however, is anxiously waiting for “…the kings”, meaning an omnipotent being. Finally when the woman dies, her eyes or windows, as referred in the poem, “could not see to see “. When the woman passes away, she couldn’t see any angels or gods as she expected would be there, but instead, she is fluttered into nothingness. She isn’t traveling to an afterlife as she had expected to unlike in the poem of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. The woman finds out that death is a simple end to everything.

The poem moves onto “The Eyes around-“as Emily paints a picture for her readers to feel the sad eyes of all the people piercing their eyes at her cold body. For the second time Emily references movement and life around death. We can feel the “Breathe gathering firm” from the surrounding people seeing their loved ones dead, lying there. Emily explains the surroundings of a dead person here, how life around stops as the people breathes are held firm. For one moment, everything stops and all life is focused on death.

Analysis of I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died and Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

One aspect of the poem that surprises readers is the relationship between the speaker and the fly .The first surprise involved in this relationship, is the combined revelation of the fly and the speaker’s death. As the poem begins, the speaker says to readers, “I heard a fly buzz-when I died” (Dickinson, 1). After reading that the speaker heard the buzz of a fly, readers may expect the death of the fly or more detail on the fly itself. However, the speaker hits readers by telling them that they heard the buzzing at the moment of their own death. Dickinson is immediately telling readers that her poem contains supernatural elements that link to the fly. This may come as a shock to readers, since they may ponder the significance of the fly within the speaker’s death, as it is not yet revealed by the end of the poem’s first line. The relationship between the speaker and the fly continues to be surprising, as the speaker describes the fly as the power that controls their life (the gateway between life and death). The speaker says:

Death is a controversial and sensitive subject. When discussing death, several questions come to mind about what happens in our afterlife, such as: where do you go and what do you see? Emily Dickinson is a poet who explores her curiosity of death and the afterlife through her creative writing ability. She displays different views on death by writing two contrasting poems: one of a softer side and another of a more ridged and scary side. When looking at dissimilar observations of death it can be seen how private and special it is; it is also understood that death is inevitable so coping with it can be taken in different ways. Emily Dickinson’s poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” show both

I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –, written by Emily Dickinson, is an interesting poem in which the poet deals with the subject of death in a doubtful yet both optimistic and pessimistic ways. The central theme of the poem is the doubtfulness and the reality of death. The poem is written in a very unique point of view; the narrator who is speaking is already dead. By using symbols, irony, oxymoron, imagery and punctuation, the poet greatly succeeds in showing the reality of death and her own doubtful feelings towards time after death.

In “I heard a fly buzz – when I died -” line 5 “The eyes around - had wrung them dry” is a synecdoche. A part (the eyes) is used to represent a whole. The eyes represent a room full of people crying surrounding the narrator. This fits into transcendentalism because three of the base beliefs of transcendentalism is that death is to not be feared, the belief in nonconformity, and that the soul transcends after death. In this poem Dickinson takes the conventional images and ideas of death and makes them into her own nonconforming view.

Dickinson's view of death is investigated as a process and a beginning, not hopeless and sad. In "I Heard a Fly Buzz-when I Died", Dickinson explores the final moments before death. Dickinson says,"The Stillness in the Room-Was like the Stillness in the Air -Between the Heaves of Storm (3-4)." The atmosphere is portrayed as very still and tranquil, such as the moments before a storm. It is not dangerous or dark, but rather calm. A fly is used to symbolize the end of life, because they are associated with death and decay. Eyes are used in the poem to represent the windows to the soul, in this instance the eyes are closing in death. Dickinson says, "For that last onset-when the Kind be witnessed- In the room (7-8)." Implying that the Lord is

In Dickinson’s poem, imagery is in abundance to convey the abnormal death the narrator is presented. The family was present as well as the tangible items being dispersed long to the corresponding family, when an unwelcome guest stops by to send its farewells. This poem is filled with imagery

Her poems fixating on death and religion can be partitioned into four classes: those concentrating on death as could reasonably be expected extinction, those sensationalizing the topic of whether the spirit survives demise, those attesting a firm confidence in interminability, and those specifically treating God's worry with individuals' lives and fates. The very popular poem "I heard a Fly buzz — when I kicked the bucket" is frequently observed as illustrative of Emily Dickinson's style and states of mind. The principal line is as capturing an opening as one could envision. By depicting the snapshot of her passing, the speaker tells us that she has as of now died. Struggle amongst uncertainty and confidence poses a potential threat in "The

This poem is written in ballad form which is odd because one would think of a ballad and think a love story or an author gushing on about nature not an allegory about personified Death. Dickinson both unites and contrasts love/courtship with death, experimenting with both reader’s expectations and the poetic convention dictating specific poem form. This is why Dickinson is widely hailed because of her unconventional writing methods.

“I heard a Fly buzz” by Emily Dickinson wrote in 1830 – 1886. (Poets.org). Emily Dickinson had an obsession with death and the afterlife. Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz” is one of her poems relating to her death fascination. Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a Fly buzz” is about Emily/speaker observing their own death. The speaker then begins to convey more about the death and what the corpse is thinking about.

Death in Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," "I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died," and "I Felt A Funeral In My Brain"