I heard a Fly buzz—when I died— Group at eNotes

Emily Dickinson has a very distinct style in most of her poems. She...

Sun, 3 May 2009 21:53:13 PST

Emily Dickinson has a very distinct style in most of her poems. She uses a lot of dashes, unusual punctuation, short stanzas, dense lines, omission of unnecessary pronouns and words, and slant rhymes. Slant rhymes are rhymes that aren't exact; they kind-of rhyme. They aren't straight-forward rhymes, they come in more at a slant. So, in "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died", she uses this type of rhyming. For example, look at the ends of...

Discuss the rhymes in the Emily Dickinson poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When...

Sun, 3 May 2009 20:01:32 PST

Discuss the rhymes in the Emily Dickinson poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died".

The word "Blue" gives us an indication of the type of fly she heard....

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:11:58 PST

The word "Blue" gives us an indication of the type of fly she heard. Blowflies in New England are typically blue. They are hated because after the female lays about 150-200 eggs, they hatch into maggots. So instead of hearing heavenly music, all the speaker hears in the noise of a blowfly, one that has probably come to lay her eggs on her corpse. It's a nauseating feeling and reinforces the loneliness and sadness of death.

What does the "With Blue-" part of the first line in the 4th...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:02:10 PST

What does the "With Blue-" part of the first line in the 4th stanza mean or have to do with the "uncertain stumbling Buzz-"?

The fly represents the physical world, which the speaker is leaving. ...

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 08:30:32 PST

The fly represents the physical world, which the speaker is leaving. The fly serves to commonize and belittle the occasion of death, it is a creature with no reverence for life, in fact it thrives on death. It paints a picture of the absence of any great "white light" or other religious/cultural beliefs about afterlife.

What is the purpose or meaning of the fly in the poem "I heard a...

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 22:40:43 PST

What is the purpose or meaning of the fly in the poem "I heard a Fly buzz--when I died"?

I have a different viewpoint here. I do believe the fly could, in...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:51:22 PST

I have a different viewpoint here. I do believe the fly could, in fact, be real. If one is on one's deathbed and drifting in and out of consciousness, or one is very, very close to death, one may perhaps be able to hear a fly buzz without being able to move or speak, etc. No one knows what one experiences when one dies, so this, in my opinion, leaves the possibility that the fly is real completely open. I also see the fly as...

The fly is neither real nor metaphorical. It is symbolic of death and...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:45:09 PST

The fly is neither real nor metaphorical. It is symbolic of death and decay. Ironically, rather than being taken up into glory by the king, the first thing she is aware of in death is the fly, which has come to dispose of her body.Of course, the fly can't be real. Let's be realistic for a moment. If the speaker could hear a fly buzz when she died, how could she have written about it?Visit the links below for more information.

In the poem "I heard a fly buzz in my brain," is the fly real or...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:15:15 PST

In the poem "I heard a fly buzz in my brain," is the fly real or metaphorical?

Consider the forms of life that the speaker identifies in the poem: ...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:49:16 PST

Consider the forms of life that the speaker identifies in the poem: herself, a king, and the lowly fly. The speaker, as she listens to the vibrant buzz of the lowliest creature on earth, the fly, cannot help but feel envious of its claim to the living world. The fly, a common parasite on corpses, may also be a vulture-like symbol. It waits for her to die so it can continue its own life. The King, mentioned in line 7, may well be Christ...

What does the poem "I heard a fly buzz" mean about death?

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:49:22 PST

What does the poem "I heard a fly buzz" mean about death?