3. “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”
By Emily Dickinson
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24. Is death nothingness? If so, is it ironic that we hear the
poem’s speaker rely the experience of death to its
readers?
What do you make of the idea that the eyes no longer
see, but consciousness continues enough for the
speaker to communicate this experience of death?
Comment on Dickinson’s use of her imagination in this
poem? Is this poem’s message one of faith or
spirituality, assuming there is a difference?
Editor's Notes
Mourners surround dying person.
Close up of a fly. What might be the symbolism of a fly in this poem?
Onomatopoeia
Woman on deathbed surrounded by mourners
Crying eyes
Holding breath
Mourners await death
Christian representation of the lord our God and king
Time of death
keepsakes
Last will and testament
The light
Empty deathbed
Windows as metaphor for the eyes
Death is like a light going out
Is death nothingness? If so, is it ironic that we hear the poem’s speaker rely the experience of death to its readers? What do you make of the idea that the eyes no longer see, but consciousness continues enough for the speaker to communicate this experience of death? Comment on Dickinson’s use of her imagination in this poem? Is this poem’s message one of faith or spirituality, assuming there is a difference.
