I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died: Translation and Analysis

"I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Author: Emily Dickinson

Written: 1863

Published by: Emily's sister in 1896 (after Emily Dickinson died).

Poem in a nutshell: "The Devil dragged my ass to Hell"

Original Text

Modern Translation

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 portions of me be Assignable—and then it was 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—

I heard a fly buzzing when I died and the silence in the room was like the silence that you hear during the “in-between” breaths people take when they are crying. People cried until they couldn't anymore and were catching their breath when I saw the Devil. I had willed everything away—at least what I could—when a fly came into the room. Blue and buzzing, it got in the way between Heaven and me, and then my eyes closed and I could not see.

Poem Summary: Original Text

In the first stanza, the narrator states that she heard a fly buzzing when she died. (Pretty straight-forward). She then describes the stillness or silence in the room to be comparable to the tension in a room filled with mourners. The pause between the drawing of breath emulates this stillness/silence.

In the second stanza, the narrator states that the mourners have cried until their eyes have become dry (they can't cry anymore) and they are regaining their composure. This is when the narrator, dying but not dead, sees the King aka Beezlebub aka the Devil (I'll explain this later).

In the third stanza, the narrator says that she has willed everything away when a fly comes buzzing into the room.

The final stanza describes how the fly (aka the Devil) comes for the narrator as she dies.

Analysis:

• In order to understand why the "King" in line 7 is the Devil and not God, you must first understand the significance of the fly.
• The fly is significant in the poem because, generally speaking, flies eat rotten/dead meat and the narrator will soon be dead.
• From a Biblical lens, the King of Flies was Beezlebub, a demon who was often associated with the Devil or as the Devil. 
• So, when the line reads "And then the Windows failed..." this is a reference to the Window to Heaven/ the Gate to Heaven. As the narrator dies and her eyes (windows to the soul) close, she becomes shut out of Heaven as the Devil takes her soul to Hell.
• Another important aspect of the poem is Onomatopoeia
• Dickinson creates the effect of a fly buzzing--the thrumming "b" and "zzz" sound--by using words like: buzz, eyes, blue, heaves

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