I heard a fly buzz when I died Journal

Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a fly buzz when I died” is about a person who is lying on their death bed, dying peacefully, when suddenly their death is interrupted by the buzzing of a fly. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker is surrounded by his or her family. They are all surrounding him or her in complete silence. “The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm” (Dickinson). “The stillness round my form” refers to all the people standing around the speaker as he or she is dying. By using the word “stillness” to describe the speaker’s surroundings, the speaker shows that the setting is very still and quiet. Everyone in the room is quiet because they are all waiting and are anticipating what is going to happen next. “Between the heaves of storm” refers to the speakers breathing. The speaker is breathing very loudly and slowly, and since the speaker says that everything is calm in between the “heaves of storm” the speaker must be struggling with every breath. “The eyes beside had wrung them dry, And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset,” (Dickinson). The people who are surrounding the speaker in his or her last moments are watching quietly as the speaker is struggling to breath. Everyone’s eyes “had wrung them dry”, meaning that everyone has cried a lot and they can no longer cry, or they no longer feel the need to cry because they have come to terms with what is going to happen.“I willed my keepsakes, signed away What portion of me I Could make assignable,-and then 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.” (Dickinson). The speaker has already assigned away all of their belongings meaning that they are ready to die and have accepted it already. They are ready for their death when suddenly a fly interrupts everything.  

bibliography
Dickinson, Emily. "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." Web. 02 Apr. 2012. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fly.html>.