Poem #465

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 – 

Analysis:
 In
 the poem "I heard a fly buzz when I  died" Dickinson employs a speaker 
from beyond the grave reflecting upon her deathbed experience. This poem
 only deals with death in the fact that the speaker is talking from 
beyond the grave. There are a few hints that tell the reader that the 
scene of death is the most important aspect of the poem. The first hint 
is that the poem takes place entirely, even in its metaphors, in the one
 room. The only exception is the imagined still air between “the Heaves 
of Storm.” Finally, the fly’s importance emphasizes this poems focus on 
the process of death. If the poem focused on the afterlife, faith, or 
the journey to eternity then the fly would be a minor character; but it 
is, instead, the only significant character besides the speaker in the 
poem! Its significance is so apparent that it actually comes between the
 speaker and “the light" thus representing death itself. This bug and 
its consequences ultimately represents the speaker’s inability to hold 
on to faith or hope in the face of death. 
 
In
 the poem the speaker begins to will away her possessions. Dickinson’s 
speaker is at first able to will away her objects, but she is suddenly 
hit with the idea that not all of her is “assignable.” The portion of 
her that she is not able to will away is assumed to be her spirit/soul. 
 Just as she has this thought, and is likely close to seeing “the light”
 she is interrupted by the fly. This fly stands between the speaker and 
the spiritual “light.” As this happens the “windows fail” and it is 
assumed that she has passed on to the afterlife

In
 the end my interpretation of this poem is that when people are close to
 death people tend to notice irrelevant and worldly things. Even in the 
face of death people are often distracted by the most minute details of 
the world around them
 

Emily Dickinson on Why the Chicken Crossed the Road

Haha. I think Shakespeare would enjoy this because brevity is the soul of wit.

Poem #1078

The Bustle in a House
The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon Earth--

The Sweeping up the Heart
And putting Love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity.

Analysis:

The narrative voice could be the friends and family members of the individual who died. The poem's physical setting is a house in which someone has passed away. The poem depicts the commotion within a household the morning after someone dies. There is a stark contrast between the imagery of people bustling through the house and their solemn actions of picking through the deceased's things. These people are likely friends and family of the departed who have to confront their emotions concerning the loss of a loved one.

This poem's structure is simple. There is slant rhyme in each stanza that follows an abcb rhyme scheme. Dickinson creates a brisk pace that undermines the gravity of losing a loved one. The poem's swift progression suggests that the bereaved begin to move on immediately after their loved one has passed and that letting go is as simple as "putting Love away."

The first stanza of poem #1078 is straightforward. Dickinson describes the "Bustle" within a house the day after an occupant has died as the "solemnest of industries." When someone dies an aura settles over everything they leave behind. Sorting through the possessions of the deceased is a dreary affair that the dead individual's family and friends feel obligated to do. The people within the house have to decide what to throw away and this decision is a constant reminder of their loved one's death.
In the second stanza the people begin to accept the absence of their beloved. They begin to detach themselves from whoever passed away by "Sweeping up the Heart" and "putting Love away." These people believe that they are merely storing their love away until they are reunited with their loved one in "Eternity" or Heaven. The line "We shall not want to use again" implies that dwelling on the death of a loved one is unfavorable; rather people should quickly move on and take solace in the knowledge that death does not separate people forever.

Personal Thoughts:

This poem doesn't completely resonate with me. When one of my family members passed away, I didn't immediately confront my feelings about his death. I couldn't sweep my heart up off of the bottom of my stomach right away because grief isn't malleable. I do agree with Dickinson that to hold on to an empty spot in your life is a waste of time. But I believe that grief, like other emotions, comes and goes as it pleases and cannot be rushed.

Poem #280

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading--treading--till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through--

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum--
Kept beating--beating--till I thought
My Mind was going numb--

And I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space--began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here--

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down--
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing--then--

Analysis:
The poem's narrative voice does not have a definite identity. The verses sound like ongoing thoughts rattling around inside of the speaker's mind. A base reading of poem #280 suggests to readers that the speaker is recounting memories of a funeral they attended. However the poem can also be read as describing the figurative death of the speaker's sanity.

The poem's structure and sound patterns emphasize the narrative voice's mental instability. The first four stanzas employ the same rhyme scheme: abcb. The last stanza interrupts this pattern by following no evident rhyme scheme. Readers pay special attention to this final stanza because the former rhythm is gone. Perhaps this break from the predictable pattern represents the speaker's departure from reason.
Dickinson employs her trademark caesura throughout the poem. Her use of hyphens and commas gives the poem an irregular, frenzied beat that intensifies the chaos evident within the speaker's thoughts. Repetition is also prevalent. The phrases "treading--treading" and "beating--beating" suggest the speaker is thinking in circles and has difficulty logically progressing with his/her ideas.

There are a few examples of figurative language apparent in poem #280. Dickinson employs simile in the line "A Service, like a Drum--" and metaphor in the line "As all the Heavens were a Bell." She creates a synechdoche by substituting the speaker for the speaker's ear. Alliteration is present in the phrase "Silence, some strange Race."

The speaker of the poem describes a funeral for his/her sanity. "Mourners" are perhaps what remains of the speaker's rationality; these logical thoughts pace through the speaker's conscience and mourn the loss of reason. These thoughts almost alert the speaker to his/her impaired mental state - "till it seemed that Sense was breaking through" - but do not succeed.
All rational thoughts are "seated" or stilled within the speaker's mind. There are no protests now and the speaker experiences a "Service, like a Drum" - rhythmic words that pound through the speaker's mind until it goes numb. This beat is likely an auditory hallucination.
The third stanza depicts a "Box" being carried across the speaker's soul. The funeral metaphor suggests the box is a coffin containing the speaker's sanity. The speaker's soul can feel the loss of his/her sound mind as the box "creaks across." The phrase "Boots of Lead" posits the notion that the speaker's sanity is being taken forcefully. The words "same" and "again" imply that the speaker has a history of mental troubles.
The speaker is alone and "wrecked" within a mental hell. He/she looks to the Heavens for redemption but does not hear the "Bell" that would bring solace. Rather, the speaker is racing silence to some unknown conclusion.
The final stanza describes the speaker's breaking point. The Plank of Reason that has supported the narrative voice snaps and the speaker's lucidity is lost. He/she tumbles through "Worlds" - different perspectives of life - until the speaker's conscious thoughts are lost in translation.

Personal Thoughts:

This poem reminds me of times I've been possessed by a train of thought that is painful for me to consider but impossible to ignore. My thoughts lose their complexity as a central thought expresses itself; that single thought turns into a chant until I exhaust myself thinking about whatever miserable tangent I've stumbled upon. Ironically enough death is a concept that terrifies me if I allow myself to ask questions about it. Reading this poem makes me wonder where mental instability stems from. I think that people who are alone with their thoughts for too long are more likely to become insane. Maybe everyone has the potential to lose their sanity.

Welcome!

The three Emily Dickinson poems we chose to analyze relate to death. As we post our interpretations, please comment and share your opinion on the poem as well as our analysis! Feel free to snap as we try our hand at being poetry mavens.