Symbolic Use of the Buzzing Fly - Assignment Example

Poetry Analysis: I Heard a Fly Buzz – when In Died by Emily Dickinson Introduction In essence, Emily Dickinson was a poet with considerable fondness of evaluating and resolving cultural doubts and misconceptions about death. Therefore, Emily composed numerous poems revolving around the themes of death, especially life in moments before and after death. The Poem, I heard a Fly Buzz – when I died, is one of Emily’s works centered on the mental and spiritual posture of a person’s moments just before death. Apparently, the poem’s persona is speaking from the afterlife, narrating the identifiable happenings that transpired while lying at a deathbed moments before dying. At the deathbed, the persona is willingly distributing earthly possessions to heirs, only for a buzzing fly to unexpectedly interrupt the will-assignment process. In this context, the fly is a symbol used to reinforce the idea of earthly distractions while trying to achieve spiritual composure just before death (Bennett 82). Admittedly, Emily Dickinson intended to demonstrate the element of skepticism or lack of absolute certainty common during inevitable but tragic situations in human life. Technically, the poet employed the literary device of symbolism in delineating mental and spiritual conflicts experienced by humans before dying. Symbolic use of the Buzzing Fly In the first line of the poem, the persona says, “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died.” In essence, the persona is already dead. However, the persona is reminiscent of the moments just before death struck. In this case, the buzzing fly is a symbol; a symbol of earthly distractions and a symbol of how man relates with distractions in the natural world. After the poem’s first line, the symbolic effect of the buzzing fly fades, until when the fly abruptly interrupts the persona while distributing earthly possessions to those present at the deathbed. In lines ten, eleven and twelve of the poem, the persona says, “I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away what portion of me be assignable – and then it was there interposed a Fly” (Frederic and Mason 591). In this case, the buzzing fly re-enters the room and invariably distract the dying persona from his will-assignment duties. Before the buzzing fly entered the room for the second time, the persona had achieved a state of calm and resolved spiritual composure. The achieved spiritual calmness at the dying moments is illustrated by lines two, three and four of the poem which says, “The stillness in the room was like the stillness in the air between the heaves of storm” (Frederic and Mason 591). In this case, the dying persona was experiencing the fragile calmness and spiritual resolve that comes before death, only to be interrupted by the buzzing fly. In this context, it emerges that just before dying; the persona was at peace with the imminent demise. In preparation for the sad but inevitable ending, the persona started distributing the ‘keepsakes’ to those present at the deathbed. In this case, the willful distribution of possessions before death is a common resolution made by humans in preparation to face death. At such moments, humans surrender earthly possessions and focus their mental concentration on conceptions surrounding the spiritual life after death (Bennett 79). However, peaceful mental concentrations before death are usually disrupted or short-circuited by heavy skepticism ushered in by an inherent preoccupation with common earthly things. Technically, a buzzing fly is a common earthly distraction that burst in unwelcomed. Actually, the fly disappears for a long time after its first appearance, only to re-enter at the most inappropriate of times, as described by the vocabulary ‘interposed.’ The buzzing sound of a fly is usually annoying and uncontrollable, simply because it sucks calmness and peace out of quiet and desirable moments (Frederic and Mason 591). Therefore, the intervening insect is a symbolic illustration of momentous distraction that divides a dying person’s concentration between the physical world and the spiritual world. Symbolic use of the Storm Besides the buzzing fly, the word ‘storm’ is used in a symbolic manner to delineate mental and spiritual conflicts experienced by humans before dying. In the fourth line of the first stanza, the persona says, “Between the heaves of storm” (Frederic and Mason 591). Practically, the denotative meaning of storm is one of the violent and erratic changes in weather, usually characterized by uncontrollable lack of calmness and heavy rains. Connotatively, the word storm is used to symbolize lack of emotional and spiritual calmness. As the saying goes, after a storm there must be calm. Actually, storms are characterized by momentary periods of calmness and stillness, which are often fragile. In this case, the weirdly quiet moments in a storm is symbolically used to describe the calmness surrounding the persona’s mental and emotional composures at the deathbed. On the other hand, suffering and pain represents the actual storm, which prevails for most of the moments at a deathbed. Amidst pain and suffering, dying persons often cease a moment of spooky quietness; a fragile moment when dying persons achieve peace of mind and soul in readiness for the undesirable but inevitable fate (Dickinson and Vander 48). In an effort to delineate physical and spiritual attributes, the poet uses storm to symbolize common things that are familiar within the physical world. Technically, the symbolic use of storm is meant to explicitly demonstrate the finite moments of spiritual awareness sandwiched between earthly perceptions and infinite spiritual uncertainties. In a practical storm, changes in variables like speed of wind and direction of atmospheric waves are quite unpredictable. In this case, the surrounding elements of earthly perceptions and infinite spiritual uncertainty are symbolized by the unpredictability of variables within a storm (Hunt 31). However, calmness within a storm is a symbolic representation of finite moments with the most importance. Actually, the persona is delighted by the fragile moment of total calmness amidst the storm of suffering and pain at the deathbed. Apparently, such quiet and calm moments enables a dying person to achieve the required level of spiritual consciousness in preparation for uncertainties beyond death. However, such momentous spiritual consciousnesses are as fragile as the short-lasting calmness within a storm. Therefore, the calm boundary between storms symbolically delineates conflicts between the physical and spiritual worlds before death (Edwards and Smith 195). Criticism by Paula Bennett Admittedly, Emily Dickinson feature as one of the most popular American Poets of the 19th Century. Presently, most scholars are fond of conducting criticism on some of the poet’s works, especially on topics pertaining to intended meanings of Emily Dickinson’s poems. One literature scholar that has dedicated most of her time analyzing Emily’s poems is Paula Bennett. With respect to the poem I heard a fly buzz – when I died, Bennett mentions that the buzzing fly symbolizes a magnified distortion of calmness within the persona’s deathbed scene (Bennett 83). According to Bennett, the buzzing fly zooms in the persona’s moments of death, and projects perceptions and thoughts going through the persona’s mind and heart. Apparently, the buzzing fly magnifies tenfold the importance of stillness present beforehand inside the dying room. According to Bennett, the first entrance of the fly was insignificant, and appears to affect only the background thoughts and perceptions of the dying persona. However, the fly’s second appearance distorts the desirable state of mental and spiritual composures that existed before the fly’s re-entry. In the analysis, Bennett asserts that the persona had captured a glimpse of hope in the afterlife, only for the glimpsed hope to be aborted by skepticism resulting from earthly distractions (Bennett 84). Therefore, I am in agreement with Bennett’s evaluation on the symbolic purpose of the buzzing fly used by the poet in delivering the intended message. Conclusion In conclusion, it is acknowledgeable that Emily Dickinson articulately employed the literary device of symbolism in presenting her intended opinion regarding a death scene. As aforementioned, the poet was fond of illustratively depicting mental and emotional constructs of humans before and after death. In the poem I heard a fly buzz – when I died, the poet, through the dying persona, communicates to her audiences about conflicts of physical and spiritual contexts during death. Both the buzzing fly and the storm are symbolically illustrative (Edwards and Smith 186). Storm connotatively symbolizes the fragile calmness between suffering and pain of dying. On the other hand, the buzzing fly is a symbolic illustration of common earthly distractions that cause skepticism at deathbeds. Apparently, critical analysis of Emily’s poem by other authors, especially Paula Bennett, shows that the poet employed symbolism in delivering the intended message. In this regard, it is admissible that the use of symbolism played a significant role in helping to poet to delineate and demonstrate mental and spirit conflicts experienced by humans before dying. Works Cited Bennett, Paula. Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet. Des Moines: Iowa State University Press, 2000. Print. Dickinson, Emily and Vander, Helen. Dickinson: Selected Poems and Commentaries. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. Print. Edwards, Lisa and Smith, Glenda. Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson. New York: Pascal Press, 2009. Print. Frederic, John and Mason, David. Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry. 5th Ed. Pittsburg: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print. Hunt, Patrick. Poetry in the Song of Songs: A Literary Analysis. Indianapolis: Peter Lang Publishing, 2008. Print. Read More