I heard a fly buzz when I died; Analysis

I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form

Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of storm.



The eyes beside had wrung them dry,

And breaths were gathering sure

For that last onset, when the king

Be witnessed in his power.



I willed my keepsakes, signed away

What portion of me I

Could make assignable,--and then

There interposed a fly,



With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,

Between the light and me;

And then the windows failed, and then

I could not see to see.

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i think i heard a fly buzz meant it was intence quitness when she died.the part which she said "the eyes around.them dry"i guess she wanted 2 ce god but instead she saw a fly.the part she said "i willed....away"she meant she had made her well an so she is ready for death.i think that wat she meant

| Posted on 2009-01-04 | by a guest

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Its about how we notice even the most minute details of the most important moments of our lives- duh.

| Posted on 2008-12-04 | by a guest

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This site is pretty ridiculus and most of the people replying are pretty much idiots.

| Posted on 2008-12-02 | by a guest

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I think that she was actually representing the fears she has of becoming a fly in her next life. We all now she was hindu and she really didn't want to come back and half to crawl all over poop for the 24 hour life span of a fly. or however long they live. So yea...fly=fear

| Posted on 2008-11-18 | by a guest

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yea that analysis was pretty much posed bye me haley! yeah!!!!

| Posted on 2008-10-05 | by a guest

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In the beginning stanza I feel that she is comparing something other than a fly’s buzzing to when she died. That it is being used to describe the loneliness in the room and her only company is a small insect. The stillness around her form I interpret to be a barrier she holds against the world, (considering her living habits in her later years of poetry she spent living secluded in a room) I think, Between the heaves of storm, could mean in between the problems and rough spots of life. In the next stanza I feel that she is describing the people she knew who had cried their eyes out and eventually left a stillness and acceptance of her fate that a King (god) took with his power. The third stanza translates to be her property, feelings memories and choices being given away along with part of her. Her life she seems to say is being taken from her and the only thing left to replace them is a fly, symbolizing the nothingness she has left. In the last stanza With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz, is her way of describing the sadness and confusion of sounds that kept her from reaching the light (dying). The last two verses seem to express her reluctance to leave now that she was trapped within herself. .

| Posted on 2008-10-05 | by a guest

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This poem is about the speaker dying and while she died she basically took a crap, thus, the fly. Short and simple. Don't even try to argue it.

| Posted on 2008-09-26 | by a guest

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I think the fly is symbolic of a possible flaw in the speaker's virtues (that everyone in the room has found out). It could be something she fears may prevents her from entering heaven.

| Posted on 2008-04-08 | by a guest

.: annonymous :.

This poem is basically saying when she died she heard a fly buzz by and it caught her attention because in was in the way of her seeing the light to heaven and getting their. I think the fly was an obstacle in her way and she had to get to heaven in a certain amount of time, but unfortunately time ran out and she did not get to reach heaven.

| Posted on 2007-05-04 | by a guest

.: Alternative :.

Perhaps the fly is symbolic of Beelzebub; the Lord of the Flies. Could Beelzebub be trying to come between the dying girl and God, trying to block her view of the light, rendering her uncapable of physically seeing God before her "windows" (eyes) failed her?

| Posted on 2007-05-01 | by a guest

.: buzz :.

In this first stanza, the scene of a deathbed is set. No specifics are given about the room, the dying speaker, or the people that wait in the room for an outcome. The fly is introduced and its significance is not explained as of yet. One detail that is heavily stressed is "stillness in the room." The word stillness is repeated and compared with the calm in a storm. This suggests two things: the motionlessness of death and the anticipation of something yet to come. The calm within the "heaves of storm" is a waiting period for something to happen. That something could be the actual event of breathing a last breath or what happens either simultaneously to the last breath or immediately after. One would assume that this event is being accepted into heaven or meeting God. The stillness signifies both the nearly deceased speaker and the people in the room. They await the death completely still out of respect and fear of death.

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The second stanza discusses the state of mind of those waiting by the deathbed of the speaker. They have obviously been crying by the suggestion that their eyes had "wrung them dry." Through this description that they have stopped their weeping it is implied that they have now accepted the death of the speaker. In the second line of this stanza, the people are holding their breath for "that last Onset - when the King be witnessed." The King is probably God in this context and they are all awaiting his entering the room to take the soul of the speaker. The word onset as defined in Webster's Dictionary is "a setting out; start; beginning." This suggests that the death of the speaker is a beginning of an eternal life in heaven and not necessarily just an end to mortal life. Everyone in the room is expectant of the presence of God to carry the speaker to the this celestial afterlife.

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The focus is returned to the speaker in the third stanza where it says "I willed my Keepsakes." These keepsakes could be material goods that the speaker collected during life. There will be no use for these goods in heaven so this line discusses the tradition of willing away property and material belonging. As the speaker goes on in this stanza, she discusses the act of having "signed away what portion of me be Assignable." The meaning of this event changes in this line. The word assignable from Webster's is "the ability to give out or allot, as a lesson." From this definition it can be assumed that the speaker hopes to leave the people awaiting her death something other than just material goods. The keepsakes that the speaker hopes to give away become the positive virtues that she possessed during life rather than belongings. She hopes that these virtues will serve as the lesson to those that outlive her. The last line of the stanza reintroduces the fly to the scene. The fly "interposed" which means to come between or intervene.

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The fly and its purpose are paramount to the final stanza. As previously described, the fly intervenes between the speaker and the light. The fly possesses a "Blue-uncertain stumbling Buzz" that the speaker takes very specific notice of. This earthly insect serves as a reminder or warning that the speaker is soon leaving the earth. The uncertainty of the fly could be symbolic of the speaker's own unsure feelings about death. The stumbling denotes a movement that is lacking in grace or beauty. But the fly, as a creature of God, does possess the beauty of earth that the speaker last sees before dying. The color blue serves as a tranquil and soothing color for the speaker to feel comforted at these last living moments. Many relate heaven to the sky, which is also blue, so this specific color could be an assumption of the state of heaven by the speaker.

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Dickinson's opinion of death in this poem is not entirely tragic. While it is apparent that both the speaker and the people at her deathbed do feel great loss, Dickinson emphasizes the beginning of a new life and the importance of recognizing the beauty in life. The fly serves as a symbolic inhabitant of earth that is not typically examined for the beauty and grace of God. In this poem, however, the fly is a messenger to the speaker. The fly's presence both comforts and informs the speaker about death and the appreciation of life. By choosing this creature, Dickinson portrays the beauty in every living thing: even the pesky fly has a purpose and a place on earth and in life. The poem also explains what the dying is experiencing, but it strays away from describing pain and fear and concentrates on how the speaker pays close attention to those that will continue to live. The speaker hopes to leaving something significant behind other than just material goods. She also notices that in the surreal moments before death, the stillness in the room encompasses everyone and everything, including even the air that fills the room. These elements work together to expose the beauty and serenity of death.

| Posted on 2005-05-06 | by Approved Guest