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.
Notes
Composition Date:
ca. 1862.Form:
abcb (off-rhyme)
2. round my form: the existing manuscript version of poem 465, The
Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin in two
volumes (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University
Press, 1981: I, 591; fascicle 26; PS 1541 A1 1981 ROBA), reads "in the room".
5. beside: the existing manuscript version reads "around".
6. sure: the existing manuscript version reads "firm".
7. king: possibly death.
8. his power: the existing manuscript version reads "the room".
10. I: the existing manuscript version reads "be".
11. Could make assignable, --: the existing manuscript version reads "Assignable,".
and then: the existing manuscript version reads "and then it was".
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My true Critical view
From guest James E. Hoffman Jr. (contact)
“I heard a Fly buzz—when I died” Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died”. This poem is deep in its nature but is quite common in the aspect that it is an experience that we will all have to endure. In the first stanza we get the feeling that there are others in the room with her. The spectators are at her side, quit and still awaiting the inevitable event. In the last line of the first stanza perhaps the havens are opening, the gale of clouds parting and the golden gates swinging open in haste. In the first line of the second stanza possibly she had been ill for some time, you get the since that this is not a sudden death. Her loved ones and she may have had enough time to come to piece with the fact that she was going to die so tears were not necessary. The second line concludes that by holding their breath in they are aware that she will go very soon. The last two lines in the second stanza are very significant in a religious since the “last Onset” last- the end of her life on earth, Onset- her beginning, in haven with God. The hand of God descends from heaven to take her home this is witnessed in the room by all as she takes her last breath on earth. In the first three lines of the third stanza the speaker wants us to know that she has prepared for this day to come. She has assigned the personal things that make her who she is to her loved ones to hold, to carry on her memory. Then in the last line of the third stanza something so ironic appears to her, an annoying common house hold insect. This fly seems to steal her own subconsciousness from her fading life. She then becomes focused on this bothersome buzz that it makes, so focused it is the last thing she sees before she dies. The very last line is a brilliant end to this poem “ I could not see to see” representing a clear notion that she did die, but also leaves you with a feeling of a peaceful reassuring exit. -
Incredible
I think Emily was mesmerised watching a fly dealing with a carcass and so focussed on the procedure that she lost all sense of time and place. Her vision bacame blinded by light from the window. This poem is amazing. Iana -
seems like she has been contemplating death in details...
and fly seems a metaphor for death... while she is waiting on her death bed...
she herself could sense the periodic stillness... admist the bouts of cries from the people gathered around her ... as they watch her till her final breath... before her body becomes lifeless...
and the word 'king' could be a metaphor for life... before death...
she assigns her keepsakes... as the memory of herself... but the value and comparance of her existence will be negligible...
the last stanza... again speaks about death approaching her... and she slowly goes into darkness or death... as her eyes are shut or fail ... windows being a metaphor for eyes... -
oh, the irony of death.
The narrator of this poem is dead, obviously. He/she is awaiting "for that lost onset when the king be witnessed in his power". In other words he/she is awaiting the grand finale, the entrance of God, trumpets, fanfare, etc. But what enters? A blue bottle fly, that lays maggots in her/his body. Talk about irony. I love it. -
sigh, i didnt understand this one, anyone care to help me?
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It gave me another way to look at the death of my friend.
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