I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died Analysis

Death can be a difficult topic to talk about due to the uncomfortable or ominous feeling that it gives people. This difficulty can also result from inherent fear that humans have of the unknown. We are clueless on what it feels like when your life is slipping away knowing that death is upon you. In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “ I heard a Fly- Buzz when I died”(1862), these unknown emotions are explored through a dying speaker. Dickinson acknowledges different emotional steps someone goes through and summarizes them as grief, acceptance, appreciation, and death using the stanzas. Throughout the poem, there are constant relations on the process that an individual has to go through in their final moments as their life fades, as well the intricately

The “Heaves of Storm”(4) gives the imagery of violent pulls on the speaker’s soul, possibly between life and death. An image like this would be a simple feeling for anyone to relate to because everyone has gone through trying to fight back against a force in which they wish to oppose. Another viable example of imagery could be the eyes that surrounded the speaker on their deathbed. As previously stated this is another instance where anyone would be able to imagine themselves as the speaker. Eyes are strong indication on what a person is thinking or feeling so when the speaker describes the eyes around them as dry this implies that the speaker is aware of the sorrow surrounding them. This gives another insight and first person view for the reader on how dying would be like. Similarly, as another shared experience between the reader and the speaker is the light in the light fading in the last few lines. Dickinson is most likely incorporating the well know speculation that when an individual passes on or enters the afterlife they see a glowing light in the