“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Summary

“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Themes

• 

  The Mystery of Death

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• 

  Ritual and Meaning

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -”

• Line 1

  I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 2-4

  The Stillness in the Room
  Was like the Stillness in the Air -
  Between the Heaves of Storm -

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

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

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-11

  I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away
  What portion of me be
  Assignable

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-14

  - and then it was
  There interposed a Fly -
  With Blue - uncertain - stumbling Buzz -
  Between the light - and me -

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-16

  And then the Windows failed - and then
  I could not see to see -

  

  

  

  

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“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Symbols

• 

  The Fly

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• 

  Light and Dark

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“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Diacope

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Paradox

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Oxymoron

  

  

  

  

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• Synecdoche

  

  

  

  

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“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Heaves
• Wrung
• Firm
• Onset
• King
• Willed
• Keepsakes
• Assignable
• Interposed
• Blue

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Speaker

“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -”

More “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -” Resources

• External Resources

  • Dickinson's Meter — A valuable discussion of Emily Dickinson's use of meter.

  • In Emily's Words — An image of the only known draft of the poem in Dickinson's own handwriting.

  • The Poem Animated — A spooky animation of the poem.

  • More From Dickinson — A link to numerous other Emily Dickinson poems.

  • The Dickinson Museum — The Emily Dickinson Museum, situated in the poet's old house, has lots of resources for students.

  • On Playing Emily — A clip in which actor Cynthia Nixon discusses playing Emily Dickinson on screen in "A Quiet Passion."

  • In Our Time podcast — Experts talk about Emily Dickinson's life and work on the BBC's In Our Time podcast/radio show.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • A Word dropped careless on a Page

  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I started Early — Took my Dog —

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • This World is not Conclusion

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!