I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died
(Emily Dickinson)
Title: I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died Author: Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was born on 10, December 1830, in a little town called Amherst of North America. Her failure of relationships with men had disillusioned her and prompted her to become a recluse. Her poems are known as funerary (of death) poems. death and immortality are the major occupations of Emily. She not only treated death as an objective fact but also as a subjective experience. The poem ?I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died? aptly describes Emily?s theory of ?life in death, death in life?. The poet-speaker is lying on the death bed. The storm of grief is slowly calming down. An eerie silence and ?stillness in the air? has made the atmosphere gloomy. Having shed tears, mourners are ?gathering their breaths? for further grieving. Then the powerful ?King? arrives. Emily refers to death as the king. She does not fear death, hence resigns herself to be taken away by death. ?Then interposed a fly with blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz? Here the image of fly serves dual purpose. It can be said that the life (represented by the fly) from the dying person is trying to escape. Another interpretation could be that the death (in the form of fly) is hovering around to settle down on the dying person. Perhaps Emily has used ?blue? to describe the intermediate stage between life and death, which she later says as ?Between light and me? ?And then the windows failed? The imagery of windows represents a sort connecting device between the inner spiritual world and the outer materialistic world. As the connection is severed, finally the soul is set free from the mortal body and attains immortality. The last sentence of the poem ?Then I could not see to see? is a loaded one. It is left to the imagination of the reader to interpret the meaning according to his/her point of view. Perhaps the poet-speaker is telling that she has turned blind towards the worldly affairs and has opened her eyes to the brightness of spirituality. Emily?s deftness in using the ?matter of fact? tone has watered down the effect of awe inspiring death. ------------------------------------------------------------ Notes compiled by: J. Prabha.
Resumos Relacionados
- Because I Could Not Stop For Death
- Because I Could Not Stop For Death
- The Collected Poems Of Emily Dickinson
- Death Is Not A Horror
- Death Is Not A Horror
|
|