Emily Dickinson Death Be Not Proud Essay

Poets often compose pieces involving the theme of death, as this topic has fascinated and puzzled humans for thousands of years. Whether such pieces contain death personified as a human or doubts about afterlife, they reflect their authors' attempts to understand the nature of mortality. Individual authors view death in unique ways, some believing that life continues after it and others writing poems that reveal their uncertainty of what lies beyond the grave. "Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne divulges the author's understanding of mortality, for he views it simply as a gateway to an eternal life with an immortal soul. "I Heard a Fly Buzz" by Emily Dickinson illustrates the confusion and uncertainty some poets feel as they try to comprehend

The narrative of the poem reveals how she feels torn between her family's belief in eternal life and her view that all life ends with death. For example, her confusion appears in the lines, " There interposed a Fly…Between the light–and me—And then the Windows failed–and then—I could not see to see…" (Dickinson). In these lines, the speaker of the poem tells how a fly interrupted her ascension into "the light," or heaven, causing everything to fade to black as she passed away. Instead of ascending fully into eternal life or simply ceasing to live altogether, the speaker experiences a confusing mixture of final death and everlasting life in her final moments, as she first witnesses the light of heaven and then the complete darkness of lasting death. Clearly, the author of the poem feels uncertain of the process and results of death, seeming unsure of her beliefs of what follows it. Certain lines of "I Heard a Fly Buzz" indicate Emily Dickinson's view of death as a confusing