I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died by Emily Dickinson | Structure, Summary, Analysis

I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died by Emily Dickinson | Structure, Summary, Analysis

‘I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died’ is a poem written by Emily Dickinson in 1862. Like her other poems, this poem also remained untitled and unpublished. It was published with an informal title ‘I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died after her death. In the poem, a speaker communicates to the reader from beyond the grave. The speaker is already dead but the speaker isn’t yet not worried about the afterlife or eternity, they just died and they are startled while observing the activities around their deathbed. The speaker is focused on the actual rites of dying, of having one’s last moments. The poem appears quite serious but then the irritating fly arrives and the speaker gets disturbed by the fly. The poem shows the poet’s doubts regarding religion and social comforts.

Structure of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

The poem has 16 lines set in four stanzas with four lines each, that is, there are four Quatrains in the poem written in alternate iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The first and third lines each of all four Quatrains are with four feet and eight syllables while the second and fourth lines each with three feet and six syllables. The four stanzas have a loose rhyme scheme of ABCB. The poem is mostly written with half rhyme (room/storm; but it also exhibits perfect rhyming (see/me; room/room).

Emily Dickinson majorly used Enjambment, Repetition, and Alliteration (“Stillness” and “Storm” in lines three and four of the first stanza as well as “Blue” and “Between” in lines one and two of stanza four) in this poem. Emily also used Juxtaposition in this poem.

Themes of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

The major theme of the poem is the mystery of Death as the poet attempts to describe the transition between life and death. The poet isn’t certain about the afterlife and thus, she stresses the moment of death. The speaker appears to just die, speaking from beyond the grave which appears paradoxical because no one has yet been able to describe what happens after death. The poetess however decides to bust the mystery behind death but while doing so, she succeeds in avoiding being too sentimental as a fly buzzes and interrupts her. A flying buzz appears to be a mundane issue, it appears to be a symbol, suggesting that no matter how well one prepares to face the other side, it’s impossible to be ready for something unknowable.

While the speaker is already dead, she is describing the things and activities that happened just before their death, when they were on the deathbed facing their final moments. At such a grave time, the room and the air are notably filled with “stillness.” While the mourners are busy with the necessary rituals, the speaker feels nothing but stillness. This stillness may suggest a blurring of the border between life and death.

Summary of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-4

“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air -
Between the Heaves of Storm -”

In the first line, the speaker announces that they are dead, making the poem paradoxical and mysterious. The speaker is reporting right after they died (although it is impossible) and what they report is that they heard a flying buzz right at the moment when they died. The poet decorated the first line of the poem with juxtaposition. While death is a grave thing, and a dead person conversing and expressing appears to be much more profound and deep, it is juxtaposed with a flying buzz, a rather mundane thing. The associations between flies and death are gross and spooky too. The fly buzz is contrasted with the stillness of the Room where the speaker died. Everything was still, there was no sound and that is why the speaker could hear the fly buzz so clearly. While the speaker was on the deathbed, she wasn’t alone, there were other people but everyone was completely silent. It's so still in the room, like the calm before the storm, almost a false calm that is only present because of the coming storm. So, the speaker is apparently alive to the atmosphere, the present atmosphere in the room.

Stanza 2 Lines 5-8

“The Eyes around – had wrung them dry –
And Breaths were gathering firm
For the last Onset – when the King
Be witnessed – in the Room –”

In the second stanza, the speaker is focused on the people around her deathbed while she is already dead. The speaker is surrounded by her friends and relatives and the speaker says "The Eyes around – had wrung them dry – " that is, the people close to her have been crying, their eyes were wet, but now they are not. Maybe they feel exhausted, resigned, or even at peace. Maybe the speaker was suffering too much while she was alive, maybe she had been ill for a long. These are the final seconds of consciousness when the soul is preparing to take flight as the body shuts down, so to speak. The final breaths are taken as the speaker awaits the arrival of the King, who has to be the Angel of Death. The speaker expects that he will show up in the room at the moment of her death.

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

“I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable – and then it was
There interposed a Fly –”

In the third stanza, the speaker explains that she was all ready for her death, she had accepted it and had prepared for it. She had all of her “keepsakes” designated to certain people. Her will was in order. The room was peaceful, and the air was still. But then, something unexpected happened and ruined the moment or irritated the speaker. That unexpected thing was the appearance of the Fly. The fly interposed between her preparedness for death and death. This again offers a sense of Juxtaposition. Before we were thinking about calm, spiritual, somber things. Now we have to think about a grubby little fly.

Stanza 4 Lines 13-16

“With Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed – and then
I could not see to see –”

The fly is blue, a blue bottle, and it's buzzing in the window. The speaker is aware of it as the light streams into the room. So the speaker's eyes are still able to discern the light but not for much longer because the 'Windows failed' that is, seeing didn't work any longer. The speaker is leaving the material plane and is now blind—still wanting to see but unable to because the dying process means the brain stops working and therefore the sense of self is lost.

The last stanza shows the uncertainties in the mind of the poet regarding the mysteries of death and the afterlife and all the mythical religious notions of it. The speaker was at the moment of death when the fly appeared and the speaker could feel her own anxiety as she describes the fly in his uncertainty. He buzzes here and there, not sure where to land. This uncertain buzzing is disturbing to the speaker, in her moment of death. While she was hoping God or the Angel of Death to take her to the bright light, the speaker suggests that the fly ruined that moment and she failed to notice that bright light. The windows failed and then the speaker could not see anything anymore. When she died, the speaker heard the buzzing of a fly, experienced darkness, and had a feeling of uncertainty.

This uncertainty is about the religious viewpoints about death and the afterlife and the notions of heaven and hell.

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