Emily Dickinson - I heard a Fly buzz - when I died Flashcards
Quote
Simile
The tension in air between storms, she is setting the atmosphere. The room is quiet but packed with energy. The repetition of stillness is the opposite of the fly
The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air - Between the Heaves of storm
Quote
The mourners had done their crying and now resigned and ready
Bracing themselves
The Eyes around - had wrung then dry
Quote
God will be present at the moment of death
Serious and formal
when the King Be witnessed
Quote
She’s written her will and is prepared and waiting for death
Signed away what portion of me be Assignable
Atmosphere of first half of poem
Everything has been arranged and planned and the family are ready for death. Everything was calm, spiritual and sombre.
But death cannot be arranged or planned, hence the fly that upset that
Quote
The fly upset everything
And then it was There interposed a fly
What is the fly a symbol for
Chaos, complete contrast to Stillness
Human decay - circle of life. Fly has a role to play in death
Quote
Fly is interrupting her death
Appealing to the senses as hers are going
Stumbling Buzz Between the light - and me
Quote
Her eyes are failing, (metaphor)
Imagery of sudden darkness - is that what happens when we die?
And then the Windows failed - and then I could not see to see -
The increase of dashes in the final stanzas mean
Representing the increase of laborious breaths and slipping in and out of consciousness, failure of senses
Themes in the poem
Mortality
Nature
Spirituality
