Emily Dickinson's I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died

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Emily Dickinson, most notably known for her somber sense of style, often seems to return to three common themes: death, solitude, and tragedy. Dickinson lived a very introverted and reclusive life, so it is not surprising that this lifestyle would influence her as a poet. The most evident theme in Dickinson’s poems is the subject of death. In fact, many of her poems are about nothing but. In Dickinson’s poem, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died, she explores the reality and obscenity of death. She uses a fly as a metaphor to encompass everything sad and unpleasant about death into just four stanzas. Dickinson writes, “- and then it was / There interposed a Fly -” (Lines 11-12.) She quickly makes a transition from a sad, yet comforting story about…show more content…
Could it be an isolated event that changed her forever? In, My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close, Dickinson writes about some horrible happening that befell upon her. Without any introduction, Dickinson automatically reveals two events that catalyzed her life of gloom when she writes: “My life closed twice before its close / It yet remains to see” (Line 1.) What happened in these two events is unknown, Dickinson most likely suffered the deaths of two loved ones. But what really matters is how sharp this pain was to make her feel as if her life was over before it actually was. In the following lines, she shows her concern for the future and what it might hold. She has already suffered twice and fears for what she might have to deal next. Dickinson goes on to speak of immortality and what will happen to her when her life physically closes. She concludes her poem with a paradox when she mentions: “Parting is all we know of heaven / and all we need of hell” (Lines 7-8.) When a loved one dies, they hopefully go to heaven and hold eternal happiness. However, those left behind to suffer the loss pain essentially go to hell while still on earth. Dickinson perfectly describes the tragedy of human life, here heaven and hell, while polar opposites, become co-existent. If heaven is real, we must leave our loved ones behind to go there. At the same time, everyone in some way knows the misery of of
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