I Heard A Fly Buzz Analysis Essay

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Recommended: Emily Dickinson preoccupation with death in her poems

Emily Dickinson uses irony to layer and deepen the meaning of her poems. Irony can be defined as “a discrepancy between appearance and reality,” (Pearce, “Irony and David Copperfield”) and comes in several different forms including verbal, situational, dramatic, and cosmic irony. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a Fly buzz–when I died,” Dickinson uses irony to express her feelings of trepidation towards death.
To begin, Dickinson was presumed to have faith in God, but did not attend a church regularly; she seemed to have some doubts about faith. (Pearce, “Focus on Emily Dickinson’s Poetry”). A reader can immediately sense the speaker’s preoccupation with death in I heard a Fly buzz–when I died.” Although not proven, it can be assumed that
The second stanza of the poem says, “The Eyes around–had wrung them dry– / And Breaths were gathering firm / For that last Onset–when the King Be witnessed–in the Room–” (Dickinson, 203). The speaker imagines that as she lays dying, about to take her last breath, the “Breaths,” or her family and friends, will gather around, try to be strong, and wait for a “last Onset,” or final witness, or spiritual experience before she dies. The speaker feels that the living “Breaths” will expect the speaker to witness “the King,”–God or Jesus Christ–as she accepts God, and embraces death to move on to the afterlife. However, the next stanza reveals the speakers true
The third stanza interrupts the idea of a spiritual witness and says, “and then it was / There interposed a Fly / With Blue–uncertain stumbling Buzz– / Between the light–and me–” (Dickinson, 203). While the “Breaths” dutifully remain in place for their loved one as she dies, they seem to expect an incredible transformation of the speaker from the world to an afterlife with God. However, the speaker imagines that their final focus will be distracted by something as uninspiring and unremarkable as a fly. Perhaps the speaker’s description of the fly could also describe her faith–blue, uncertain, and stumbling. The speaker fears that she lacks the conviction that it takes to be able to end life in a suitable

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