I heard a Fly Buzz - Example Essay #1

“The Stillness in the Room

            Was like the Stillness in the Air –

            Between the Heaves of Storm – “

Discuss ways in which Dickinson explores transitions in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’.

Transitions are important to the work of Dickinson. We see this in the poem ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ where the speaker’s failure to die leads her to be reborn and live for “eternity”. Transitions are also seen in the poem ‘What mystery pervades a well’ in which the “water” starts a new life of freedom after escaping from the capturing well. However, it is in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’ that we see the most clear depiction of transitions in Dickinson’s work. The poem explores how the speaker’s plans to reach heaven and the “King”, but instead finds their life leading to Hell as the “Fly” blocks the way.

In ‘I heard a Fly buzz’, the central symbol is the “Fly” which blocks the speaker’s way to heaven and so they can no longer get there and to see the “King”. The speaker instead goes to hell as a result of the Fly who “interposed”; this is a huge issue for the speaker as God does not appear first as she had hoped but rather is blocked and captured. However, even before this, the speaker is ready for the next stage in their life, facing heaven or hell, as she “Signed away” her belongings and wrote her will. In the end, this next phase is never reached due to the Fly’s interference; as a result the speaker “could not see to see” and ends up in darkness. Due to missing her chance to escape hell, the speaker becomes stuck forever and entrapped in an undesired world. The preparations and thought for the next stage of life are also illustrated in ‘The last Night that She lived’. Here Dickinson uses yonic imagery to convey the speaker returning home as a “Reed” to die; she “Bent to the Water” to achieve the next transition of death.

The poem ‘What mystery pervades a well’ features enjambment and elongation to emphasise the utter freedom achieved as the water is freed from its previous limits; “floorless” is elongated and conveys this achieved satisfaction as the

speaker is no longer trapped by the male “well”. Enjambment is also used in ‘I heard a Fly buzz’, here it is used to quicken the reading and speaking speed, as the speaker is rushing to avoid Satan’s presence and be in hell; but she also becomes breathless as a result and so enjambment provides breathing space. The speaker is so eager to reach the next stage in life that they become stressed and anxious; as a result the punctuation is chaotic. Throughout the poem there is chaos in terms of punctuation reflected stress and panic as the speaker becomes desperate to reach the next phase of their life. Deification is emphasised on “Stillness in the Air” as there is little stillness but rather fear and a constant inability for the speaker to think.

Throughout Dickinson’s poetry there is a recurring symbol of eyes that are also portrayed in ‘I heard a Fly buzz’. The “Eyes” are deified which emphasises the lack of emotional connection between the speaker and those looking at her. The deification also serves the purpose of creating a religious tone, such that the eyes are the ultimate judgment before she dies; they are “dry” and so happy she is dead as it is deserving, and also portrays the speaker passing judgment. The poem is also foreshadowing, “Heaves of Storm” represent the doom coming and convey the calm before the storm; through “Heaves” appearing to look like heaven it has a mocking effect that the speaker will not reach this but rather the next transition in life will be hell. Transitions of time are reflected in ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’ where the stages of the headache are described. The aftermath is addressed as the “hour of lead”, and though the pain remains heavy, it is the next stage in being free from the pain as the speaker’s emotions change in response to it.

Ultimately, transitions are crucial to Dickinson’s work. In many poems, the next stage of life is rebirth despite the desires to die, as seen in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ where “immortality” is inevitable. However, it is in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – before I died’ that we see the most effective use of transitions as the speaker prepares to reach heaven but the “Fly” prevents all aspirations from being achieved, not even eternity can save the speaker as they become captured in hell.