An Annotation of Emily Dickinsons I Heard a Fly Buzz...

An Annotation of Emily Dickinsons I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died Emily Dickinsons poem I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died is centralized on the events of death and is spoken through the voice of the dying person. The poem explores both the meaning of life and death through the speaker and the significant incidents at the time of near death that the speaker notices. Many of Dickinsons poems contain a theme of death that searches to find meaning and the ability to cope with the inevitable. This poem is no exception to this traditional Dickinson theme; however its unusual comparisons and language about death set it apart from how one would view a typically tragic event. I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Emily Dickinson I heard a†¦show more content†¦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. 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 Websters 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. 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