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I heard a Fly Buzz–when I died
I heard a Fly buzz—when I died is the informal name for an untitled poem by American author Emily Dickinson. In the poem, the narrator is on his or her deathbed, describing the progression of the narrator's death.

Emily Dickinson’s piece known as “I heard a Fly Buzz” has puzzled literary critics throughout its publication history. Literary critics have theorized a diverse range of interpretations that specifically address the ambiguity surrounding the appearance of a fly in the poem. In 1978, Clarence Gohdes wrote an article in The New England Quarterly proposing that the fly is classified as a bluebottle fly, this seemed to settle the ambiguity surrounding Dickinson’s inclusion of the fly through the identification of the it’s specific species. On the other hand, Eugene Hollahan from the University of North Carolina, believes the representation is an “emissary of Satan”. Although theories of the symbolic fly diverge, there are a couple of things readers can be sure of. In the poem, the image surrounding the corpse imitates that of a deathbed. The speaker reflects on the moment they died, recalling the moment of grief as witnessed by those observing their passing.

Synopsis
The speaker is a corpse observing the mourners that surround their deathbed. As the mourners wait in distress, they absorb the final moments before the speaker’s death. The arrival of the “King” is anticipated to lead the speaker to heaven, however the appearance of a fly interposes, disrupting the speakers transition to death. The speaker observes the sound of the fly shortly after dies.

Analysis
The first line of the poem, “I heard a fly buzz-when I died-” immediately garners the attention of a reader. Readers are drawn into the poem, curious as to how it is possible that the speaker is talking about their own death. This line is especially peculiar because of the impossibility to hear someone speak from beyond their death. The speaker then reflects on the moments prior to the very moment they died. It is through the speaker’s observations, that liven the character of the speaker as a participant in the narrative. In Stanza 2, the speaker appears isolated from their surroundings, detached from the people who are witnessing the progression of the speaker’s death. It is through the line, “The Stillness in the Room / Was like the Stillness in the Air – / Between the Heaves of Storm –” where the speaker’s detachment from the moment they are dying is apparent. They compare the stillness in the room, to the stillness in the air of nature. A comparison that highlights the distinction between the speaker’s death and the observation of the air during their lifetime. The next portion of the poem is as follows:

“The Eyes around – had wrung them dry –

And Breaths were gathering firm

For that last Onset– when the King

Be witnessed – in the Room –”

In lines 5 through 8, The words “had wrung” is written in the past perfect tense, progressing the speaker’s narrative. The speaker’s distant awareness progressively fades as the image describing the mourners shifts to note the appearance of a “King”. This moment further increases the gap between the speaker’s state of being alive and nearing death. Everything up until the line, “There interposed a Fly–” is determined and the fly’s appearance in between the speakers reference to the light and them self suggest that the fly serves as an obstruction to the speaker’s divine attainment. It is theorized that Dickinson’s symbolism (especially in reference to the fly) encompasses religious implications and references Christian theology The grammatical structure of lines 11 through 13, interposes between the readers progression of the narrative. Dickinson creates an experience for the reader that imitates the “interposed” motion of the fly.

Other literary critics of Dickinson’s poetry have recognized the mystery surrounding the usage of the word “blue” in the poem. Another literary critic, James Connelly notes that “Under the entry “Blue” in the 1955 edition of The Oxford Universal Dictionary, one finds that “a candle is said to [burn blue] as an omen of death, or as indicating the presence of ghosts or of the Devil.” It is only after the fly’s interference does the speaker references its blueness, the light fades and the speaker dies. It is possible that Dickinson was employing this same superstition.

Defining Dickinson
The Emily Dickinson archive is an online dictionary specifically dedicated to compiling possible meanings behind some of her iconic allusions in her poetry. Below, are some of the words used in Dickinson's "I heard a Fly Buzz–when I died" which display the depth and expansive insight behind these words possible meanings.

blue
blue [-st] adj

ME blew > OFr bleu.


 * 1) Soothing; safe; comforting; familiar.
 * 2) Constant; unchanging; consistent; unvarying; eternal.
 * 3) Sad; low; gloomy; depressing; downcast; miserable.
 * 4) Pale; thin; weak; tentative; hesitant; wavering.
 * 5) Waterlogged; [fig.] choking; suffocating.
 * 6) Heavenly; celestial; moonlit; related to the atmosphere.
 * 7) Aqua; color of frozen water; [fig.] cold; chilly; frost-bitten; without circulation of blood; lifeless; spiritless; almost dead.
 * 8) Deep; vast; extensive; ample; oceanic; marine; related to the sea.
 * 9) Azure; celeste; cerulean; of the tint of the sky; of the hue of the sea; having one of the seven colors of the spectrum into which light divides.
 * 10) Phrase. “Blue Bird”: [see bluebird, n.]

fly [flies] n
OE.


 * 1) Winged insect; bug of the zoological genus Musca with transparent wings.
 * 2) Nuisance; trivial; annoyance; harmless fact of life.
 * 3) Letter writer; correspondent in Nature; [personification].

fly [flew, flies] v

OE, flee or fly.


 * 1) Wing; take flight; move through the air; navigate by means of wings.
 * 2) Come and go; pass by rapidly; happen in a hurry.
 * 3) Flee; escape; leave; avoid some threat, peril, or danger.
 * 4) Flutter; wave about.
 * 5) Move; go; take steps; proceed forward.
 * 6) Leave; exit; depart; (see Isaiah 54:10).
 * 7) Die; expire; leave this life; pass to the other world.
 * 8) Lose importance.

king
king [-s] n

OE cyning.


 * 1) Sovereign; [fig.] Lord; God; Christ; supreme being; heavenly ruler; divine law-giver.
 * 2) Ruler; crowned one; higher power; [fig.] sun.
 * 3) Monarch; male ruler; leader of a realm; head of a domain.
 * 4) Phrase. “King of Down”: bed pillow; [fig.] Prince of Peace; [kenning] Comforter.

buzz
buzz n

onomatopoeic


 * 1) Resonance; voiced hiss; noise of flies; [fig.] whisper; dissonance.
 * 2) Hum; sibilant apian sound; [word play on “fuzz”] pollen; gold dust from flowers.

buzz v

see buzz, n.


 * 1) Hum; resonate; sibilate; hiss deeply; make a bee-like sound; [fig.] exhale; expire; release the breath between the tongue and the upper teeth.

light
light [-er, -est] adj

see light, n.; NW says “This word accords with light, the fluid, in orthography, and may be from the same radix.”


 * 1) Of a syllable, unemphatic or of little weight; hence of rhythm consisting largely of such syllables.
 * 2) Having little weight; not heavy; without gravity.
 * 3) Not oppressive to the bodily sense; shallow; easily shaken off.
 * 4) Not oppressive; easy to bear or endure.

light [-ly] adv

see light, n.


 * 1) Gayly, airily, without heed or care.
 * 2) With little weight.
 * 3) Without deep impression, softly.
 * 4) Nimbly, with agility; not heavily or tardily.
 * 5) Not chastely, wantonly.

Form
Dickinson was a master of poetry who had a clear understanding of how grammar, rhythm, rhetoric and especially narrative works. In her poetry, she constantly displays a mastery at what writer Michael Ryan describes as, “the inextricable, intricate, intimate, and constantly shifting interrelationships among them [grammar, rhythm, rhetoric, narrative] as they proceed from nanosecond to nano-second at the warp-speed at which the brain processes language. ” Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a Fly buzz–when I died is no exception in the showcase of Dickinson’s complexity. The poem itself alternates between iambic trimeter and iambic tetrameter. It is a classic Dickinson poem that, as many other of her pieces, conforms to the alternation between 6 and 8 syllables per line which follow alongside a ABCB rhyme scheme.