The Manifestation Of Death In Emily Dickinson's Poems

Emily Dickinson is currently regarded as one of the greatest American poets, even though she kept her work a secret during her life. Although she had a normal childhood, Dickinson became increasingly isolated as she became an adult. Despite this, Dickinson created her best works during this time. One such work was her short poem, I heard a Fly buzz – when I died - . Many of Dickinson 's poems focus on death, so when I heard a Fly buzz – when I died – does so as well, it does not come as a surprise. Dickinson carefully crafted the poem and used various poetic devices so that the reader understands that death is not some extraordinary event; death is something that happens every day and is part of life. Dickinson 's poem is centered around death and the events which occur during the speakers last moment. When the poem first starts off, the speaker states that she heard a fly buzz when she died. The fact that the verb, died, is in the past tense, tells the reader that the speaker is something supernatural, like a ghost. This stanza then finishes with the speaker talking about the still and surreal feeling in the …show more content…
The last line of the poem, “I could not see to see-” (16), could have several interpretations. One interpretation of the line is that Dickinson purposely made it so that the line could not be understood. This uninterpretable line would make the reader understand that there are no words to describe what happens after death. We may make the act of dying out to be extraordinary, but in reality, we have no idea what the experience of death will feel like. The only thing we know about death is that even though it will only happen once to us, it happens everyday to other people. If we spend our lives preparing for death with the expectations that something magnificent will occur, we blind ourselves from the reality that death is as common as a