The fly and 465

of "keepsakes", the last few tears while waiting "the King". And now, in the midst of this silence, Emily chooses to introduce the buzzing of a fly. This common household pest's incessant buzz becomes all the dying can hear. The fly is a significant part of the poem and in this essay, I will give examples as to why and how.

I think the fly has special significance in the poem. Beelzebub was often portrayed as a fly: Lord of the Flies, and there is a strange tone about this poem, as though the dying person is a controller, an organizer, a cold person in fact, her last steps towards death were so calculated, “The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-/And Breaths were Gathering firm/ for the last Onset-when the King/Be witnessed-in the Room.”(ln 5-8). She is waiting for King (God) to come and take her to the after life. She has calculated death, then this pest “interposes” itself , “Between the light and me”(ln14) her peacef

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Think how boring it would be if we actually knew all the answers!

. If you are out jogging in the summer and you start to see dark storm clouds looming overhead, there is a panic that comes, you could get caught in the storm. Which is why this poem is, for me, so chilling. The irritation the fly introduces to the scene also becomes her

final experience of life, a perfect example of how something so ordinary, even trivial, can loom so terribly large it can overwhelm and completely blot out the spirituality.

I think the implied author is entering, in imagination; the very moment of death here is darkness itself. The language in the

poem, though wonderfully precise and startlingly original, seems to me less important for a reader than the message' of the poem, which can be taken as a wry comment on how everything, even the privacy of death, can be ruined by the commonest thing, or as something as darkly symbolic as a vision of hell itself. That buzz could be the unconfessed sins she hidden from god, but what ever it is, it has a profound affect on her afterlife by leaving her with this incessant buzzing. Everything's going so much according to plan it's as though these people are on a stage reading their script, going through pre-conceived motions. I somehow feel that when Emily Dickinson wrote this poem, she was in pessimistic mood, maybe even doubting the faith that normally sustained her.

The fly suddenly opens up the possibility that all is not about to proceed as expected, even after death. The comparison of this quiet to the "the stillness in the Air between the heaves of storm"(ln4) intensifies the feeling of anticipation for some frightening event. It's a brilliant idea, a common household pest, and also a powerful symbol of evil, uninvited and distracting. This image of distraction is particularly noticeable, especially on first reading the poem.

Common topics in this essay:
King God, Emily Dickinson, Lord Flies, Onset-when King/Be, Geoff Eng, Breaths Gathering, dying person, storm clouds, emily dickinson, moment vision, buzzing fly, dickinson wrote, waiting king, common household,

Approximate Word count = 969
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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