I+Heard+a+Fly+Buzz

="I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" =

By: Emily Dickinson[[image:Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 6.39.38 PM.png width="313" height="414" align="right"]]

 * 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 - **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">And then the Windows failed - and then **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">I could not see to see - **

__<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 130%;">History __

 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Born December 10, 1830 **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Amherst, MA **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Amherst Academy (7 years) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Leonard Humphrey **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Benjamin Newton **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Ralph Waldo Emerson **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1 year) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Dropped out **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Emotional state? **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Agoraphobia, depression, anxiety **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Mother's caretaker **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Painful ailment of her eyes **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Reclused, never left the homestead **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Died May 15, 1886 **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Kidney disease **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 150%;">Theme

 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Death is unavoidable and annoying but intriguing **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"I willed my keepsakes - signed away what portion of me be assignable" (Lines 9-11) **
 * **<span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;"> Death is annoying because you have to <span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;">prepare <span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;"> for it  **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"With blue uncertain stumbling buzz" (Line 13) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">The fly represents death, as it's uncertain and unavoidable in the room **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"I could not see to see" (Line 16) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Intriguing as it reveals truths about death and life **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Nature and Death coincide **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"I heard a fly buzz when I died" (Line 1) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Flies are apart of nature as is death **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The stillness in the room w ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">as like the stillness in the air" (Lines 2-3) **
 * **<span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;">The room is being compared to air, air is natural and part of nature **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"Between the light and me" (Line 14) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The light can symbolize the sun, death is coming between her and the sun (nature/life) **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 21px;">Imagery/Figurative Language

 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Auditory **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"I heard a fly buzz when I died" (Line 1) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"With blue uncertain stumbling buzz" (Line 13) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The sound of a fly buzzing is easily imagined **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Kinetic **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The eyes around had wrung them dry" (Line 5) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Dry eyes is something people have encountered and therefore imagine **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">And breaths were gathering firm" (Line 6) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Taking deep breaths is something easily imagined **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Simile **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"The stillness in the room w ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">as like the stillness in the air" (Lines 2-3) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Comparing the two types of stillness alludes to the natural qualities of the room **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Allusion (Biblical) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">For that last Onset when the King b ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">e witnessed in the Room" (Lines 7-8) **
 * **<span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;">The "King" or god in this case is being referred to **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Personification **
 * "**<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The eyes around had wrung them dry" (Line 5) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Eyes can't wring themselves **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">And breaths were gathering firm" (Line 6) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Breaths can't gather themselves **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Paradox **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"I could not see to see" (Line 16) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Self-contradicting **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Proves overarching point about death and mortality **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 160%;">Meter

 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Duotrain **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">4 stanzas of 4 **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">8,6,8,6 syllables **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">ABCB rhyme scheme **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Half rhymes until last stanza **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Trimeter and tetrameter iambic **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Each stanza represents a different stage of death **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 160%;">Emotion
>>> **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">(Lines 1-3) **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Tone **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Elegiac yet tranquil **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">I heard a Fly buzz when I died t ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">he Stillness in the Room w ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">as like the Stillness in the Air" **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Death is apparent and mourned but calm like air in the room **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Mood **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Quizzical, pity, calm **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">" **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">And then the Windows failed and then ****<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">I could not see to see" (Lines 15-16) **
 * **<span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;">Paradox reveals questions about life **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">"I willed my keepsakes - signed away what portion of me be assignable" (Lines 9-11) **
 * **<span style="font-family: Courier New,Courier,monospace;">Pity for the speaker who died **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 21px;">Works Cited

 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"Emily Dickinson." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 22 June 2016. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Shmoop Editorial Team. "I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –." Shmoop. Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 Mar. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;"> 2017. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">"Dickinson’s Poetry." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. **