I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
by Emily Dickinson

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 –

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

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

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

Summary of I Heard a Fly Buzzing When I Died
Popularity: "I Heard a Fly Buzzing When I Died" is one of the best poems written by Emily Dickinson that dramatizes her vision of death. It was first published in 1896. It is a simple poem, reflecting the morbidity of dying using images. The dead speaker is describing the events that led to her death. Since its publication, she has gained much admiration from her readers for her theme.
"I Heard a Fly Buzz" as Representative of Death: As this poem is about death, the poet illustrates what happens when she dies, says she hears buzzing a fly when it dies and then details the moments that eventually lead to its death. the scene for the next event, death. She says the room is quiet and calm. She then she presents a graphic detail of the mourners gathered around her. They are also quiet with their dry eyes waiting for the expected death of the speaker. She willingly gives away her worldly possessions and is ready for the journey ahead. Just then, a fly gets in the way and blocks the worldly view of her. Therefore, "buzzing of the fly" refers to the presence of death, however, the "fly" that stands between the light and it, represents the last vision he sees before death, or it could be the death which has put an end to her life
Main themes: Death and Acceptance are the main themes of the poem, the poet brings these themes to the fore in simple language, accepts the inevitable death and embraces it by signing her will, And he adds that when he is giving away his possessions, a fly arrives that blocks his vision. Using figurative language, she creates an image of death that is neither ruthless nor brutal. Instead, it is portrayed as a king announcing its presence upon arrival.
Analysis of literary devices in “I heard the noise of flies when I died”
Literary devices are tools for effectively and clearly expressing your feelings, ideas and emotions. Emily used some literary means to add uniqueness and richness to the poem. The analysis of some of the literary means used in this poem has been detailed below.

Images: The use of images allows the reader to visualize the feelings and emotions of the writer used images such as "Between the heavens of the storm", "Between the light - and me "," In between a fly "and" I heard a fly buzz - when I died. " The first attracts the sense of sight, while the second and third attract the sense of hearing.
Simile: It is used to make a comparison of one object with another to make the description more vivid. The second line of the first stanza "The silence in the room - was like the silence in the air" is an example of a parable. Here she compares the silence of the room with the silence of the air.
Personification: Personification is used to impart human characteristics to nonhuman things. The last two lines of the second stanza are examples of the personification "when the king witnesses - in space" as if death is a person and he is seen in space.
Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel tones in the same line, like the sound of / e / in "And the breaths tightened" and / i / sound in "I heard the fly hum".
Enjambment: Enjambment refers to the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza, such as B.
"The silence in the room
War like the silence in the air".

Oxymoron: It is a phrase that contains conflicting terms that appear close together. For example, "Last" Here, "Last Onset" in line 7 means the last breath the person takes when they die.
Onomatopoeia: It refers to the word that mimics the natural sounds of Emily has the word "in the first" Buzz "and the last stanzas of the poem.
Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence. Emily repeated the word “silence” to emphasize the feeling of space in the first two lines of the poem,
“The silence in the room
Warde like the silence in the air. "

Consonance: The consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, like the sound of / r / in" The eyes around - I had drained them. "
Synecdoche: A rhetorical figure in which a part is made to represent the whole . The poet has used it in the fifth line of the poem, "The eyes around - he had drained them." Here “eyes” represent a room full of people.
Literary analysis shows that Emily Dickinson has successfully used these literary devices to capture the stages of death in this poem.

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “I Heard A Flies Buzz When I Died”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but some are only used in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Strophe: A stanza is the poetic form of a few lines. There are four stanzas in this poem.
Quatrain: A quatrain is a four line stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain as the first and second.
Rhyme Scheme: Emily did not use a specific rhyme scheme in this poem. The first three stanzas vary in form and time. However, in the last stanza of the poem she used the full rhyme.
Full rhyme: It refers to the rhyme in which the stressed vowels and all following consonants and vowels are the same, but the consonants before the rhyming vowels are different, like " see ”,“ I ”. The rhyme scheme for the last stanza is ABCB.
Usage Quotes
These lines can be used when recounting any personal experience of any peaceful place. They can also be used in a speech to describe the atmosphere of any calm and quiet place.

in the Room
It was like the stillness in the air –
Among the whirlpools of the storm.
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