Emily Dickinson Poem 465

In her poem #465, Emily Dickinson’s speaker allow the reader to experience an ironic reversal of conventional expectations of the moment of death in the mid-1800s, as the speaker finds nothing but an eerie darkness at the end of her life. Dickinson introduces the speaker’s earliest memory as the speaker is starting the journey of crossing over, however, the speaker’s expectations are not met, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-“(1). The reader is introduced to a fly buzzing around the room, which ironically is not the grand entrance that the speaker was lead to believe greets all worshipers of God. Dickinson implies that the speaker is greeted with disappointment by hearing a fly buzz around the room, as it would fly around a rotting corpse. …show more content…
Dickinson implies that the speaker’s family is no longer mourning but instead anticipating the death of the speaker. This illustrates how the family is anticipating and holding their breath as the speaker slowly leaves the land of the living. While the speaker is ready to witness the glorious beginning of ascending into the afterlife and come face to face with God who will lead them into the, “For that last Onset- when the King Be Witnesses- in the Room-“(6-7). Dickinson suggests that the king witnessing the journey that the speaker is embarking on might be what the speaker’s interprets of God watching everything happen. In the third stanza, as the speaker is preparing for the grand transition of crossing over, the speaker watches as all of their material keepsakes are being distributed among family members, “I willed my Keepsakes- Signed away / What portions of me be Assignable-“(9-10). Soon after the speaker has the realization that all of the material items that hold worth on Earth will become useless in the afterlife. ****Dickinson But as the speaker has this material thought the fly interposes between the speaker and the