"I heard a Fly buzz—when I died" is the informal name for an untitled poem by American author Emily Dickinson.
[1] On the other hand, Eugene Hollahan from the University of North Carolina believes the representation is an "emissary of Satan".
[4] In the second stanza, the narrator appears isolated from her surroundings, detached from people who are witnessing her death and aftermath.
Be witnessed – in the Room – In lines 5 through 8, the words "had wrung" are written in the past perfect tense, progressing the speaker's temporal narrative.
[4] The speaker's distant awareness progressively fades as the image describing the mourners shifts to note the appearance of a "King".
[4] Dickinson touches on the issue of what medieval theologians termed "transitus," or transition to the afterlife, throughout her ouvre.
[8] Literary critics of Dickinson's poetry have recognized the mystery surrounding the usage of the word “blue” in the poem.
[9] Dickinson's skill in poetry has been described by Michael Ryan as “the inextricable, intricate, intimate, and constantly shifting interrelationships among them [grammar, rhythm, rhetoric, narrative] as they proceed from second to nanosecond at the warp-speed at which the brain processes language.
The Eyes around - had wrung them dry - And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset - when the King Be witnessed - in the Room -