Analysis of Dickinson I heard the buzz of a fly - when I died Emily Dickinson wrote hundreds of poems during her life that dealt with death. He seemed to have an almost morbid fascination with the subject. His poem "I heard the buzz of a fly - when I died" is one of the many poems he wrote on this horrible subject. The symbols she uses make this poem interesting because they can be interpreted on multiple levels. The punctuation and capitalization used also gives the poem an abstract quality. Like much of Dickinson's poetry, this poem is both surprising and dark. One thing that stands out in this poem is that the word fly is written in capital letters. One wonders what the fly really represents. Flies often gather around death and dead things, and on one level, the fly can be seen as a representation of death. Death, a perpetual fly on the wall, finally makes itself noticed. Although the speaker has always known that death would come, when it finally arrives, its modest appearance is disappointing. The fly can also be seen as an interruption in the narrator's dying process. You can hear the fly buzzing over “Stillness in the Room.” The fly also comes between the speaker and the light in the last stanza of the poem, which is another disturbance in the speaker's dying process. The fly can also be seen ironically. The speaker, like all of us, expects death to be an important and grand experience in our lives. His death, however, is interrupted by something as insignificant as a fly. The insignificant quality of the fly could represent the banal nature of death and the relative unimportance of a person's death. The fly does not matter, a...... middle of paper ......and describes a kind of spiritual death, as it speaks of the fly cutting her off from the light, which could represent God. This interpretation however presents some difficulties, as family members would likely not be present during a spiritual death. (Dickinson 1146) Dickinson's poetry is both inspiring and shocking. This poem communicates many things about Dickinson, such as her cynical view of God and her obsession with death. It is baffling to me why a young woman like Emily Dickinson would be so melancholy, when she seemed to have such a beautiful life. Perhaps he has just revealed in his poetry that dark side that most people try to keep hidden. Works Cited: Dickinson, Emily. “I heard the buzz of a fly when I died.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1, 2nd edition. Ed. Nina Baym, et al. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985