Comparing Emily Dickinson's Poems '465 And 501'

In the poem “I heard a fly buzz” Dickinson presents death in a way that shows that there is no afterlife because it centers on the process that happens after her own death. According to the poem, this process leads to the feeling of nothingness. The feeling and “air” in the poem reflects the rotting of the body and the emptiness that comes about with death. In the poem, the dead body is surrounded by total silence as people have stopped crying and even the wind has stopped blowing. The speaker seems to be expecting death because she says,

When Emily Dickinson was still in her teenage years, she began to experience pain all around her. Life and death became a prevalent topic as Ryan introduces, “Her bedroom from the age of sixteen to twenty-four overlooked the village graveyard; repeatedly, in the close community of Amherst, she was privy to the loss of children, parents, spouses, inmates”. By the time she was older, her poetry was very eloquent and thought out. In her poem “I heard a Fly Buzz- when I died-”, also referred to as 465, she demonstrated her abilities to think and express feelings well beyond her years (15). Through the course of the poem one reading without analysis will understand that a fly buzzed in the room while the narrator encountered death. However,

    Figurative language plays a key role in the poem, as well. The best example is  The Morning after Death,  which sounds a lot like  mourning after death.  In fact,  mourning  could even replace  morning  and the poem would still make sense. Another example occurs in the second stanza, when Dickinson uses the words  sweeping  and  putting.   By using such cold, unfeeling words when describing matters of the heart, the author creates a numb, distant tone. She really means that after someone dies, one almost has to detach oneself from the feelings of love that once existed for the deceased.

In the first stanza she simply states that just because one can’t see or have never seen something doesn’t mean that it can’t or doesn’t exist. That being said, Dickinson then says that she has not ever “spoken with God” or visited heaven in the third pair of lines (Dickinson 1273). The final set of lines says that she is “certain of the spot” (Dickinson 1273). This second stanza clearly confirms that she is confident of her place in heaven. Dickinson believes in all of these things even though she hasn’t observed any of them. (Benfey 25) This particular poem shows of her assurance of God and heaven.

Dickinson starts the first stanza of the poem with, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” (807). Clearly she was not ready to go, death simply took her by surprise and brought her busy life to a halt. This could be seen as a beautiful way to take on death because death is usually said in such a morbid tone and the fact she associated “kindly” with death makes it beautiful. The second line says, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – and Immortality” (Dickinson 807). The author emphasizes Carriage, Ourselves, and Immortality. Dickinson seems to be talking about her own death chariot and by immortality, she believes her death is not the end, but rather as a step to eternal life.

The first stanza introduces the speaker’s earliest memory as they are starting the journey of crossing over. Right away the reader is introduced to a fly buzzing around the room, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-“(1). The fly represents the soul leaving the body and witnessing the surroundings of the life they are leaving behind. The speaker is aware that the people around have crying and Dickinson illustrating the scene with a metaphor, “Was like the Stillness in the Air- Between the Heaves of Storm-“ (3-4). The speaker realizes that the family members who have come to mourn have not made any sounds during the periods of wailing and quietly sniffling. Dickinson’s comparison to a storm that changes sound constantly it perfectly displays how people mourn. First loudly, then quietly before the wails rise again.

Emily Dickinson's poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died" is centralized on the events of death and is spoken through the voice of the dying person. The poem explores both the meaning of life and death through the speaker and the significant incidents at the time of near death that the speaker notices. Many of Dickinson's poems contain a theme of death that searches to find meaning and the ability to cope with the inevitable. This poem is no exception to this traditional Dickinson theme; however its unusual comparisons and language about death set it apart from how one would view a typically tragic event.

In opposition to “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Dickinson published her work of “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died”. In this particular piece of literature, the author disbeliefs in an afterlife. In this poem, a woman is lying on bed with her family surrounding her, waiting for the woman to pass away. The woman, however, is anxiously waiting for “…the kings”, meaning an omnipotent being. Finally when the woman dies, her eyes or windows, as referred in the poem, “could not see to see “. When the woman passes away, she couldn’t see any angels or gods as she expected would be there, but instead, she is fluttered into nothingness. She isn’t traveling to an afterlife as she had expected to unlike in the poem of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. The woman finds out that death is a simple end to everything.

During the second half of the poem , Dickinson, using personification once more, expresses the feeling that “I say it just/ Begins to live/ That day” (4-6). This time, instead of explaining a word with death,

Dickinson uses imagery the most in this poem with “The stillness in the room” Dickinson is making you think about the room look like and how it feels in there. The tone and mood describe nothing but Dickinson which is relating to her life the tone of the poem “I heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died” is gloomy and calm. Dickinson was always a calm and lonely person because she never fit in with other she never said much so she was calm, she had no reason to be roused, and she was always a soothing person. I heard a fly buzz theme is a morality. Dickinson describes in this poem lot of things about death.

This is symbolic of her looking at death as a new beginning as opposed to a sad ending. There is a feeling of disappointment as she thinks that she is going towards eternity but she just ends up viewing the “House that Seemed a Swelling of the Ground” and then centuries later, reflects upon her journey towards and eternity she didn’t witness. To Dickinson death was not something to be afraid of but to rather embrace and accept because it was inevitable, yet as in her life ends up disappointed because death leads to nothingness.

The mental illustration of the poem is early sunrise as if Dickinson is about to start her day. As she goes on she clarifies a visit from death is at her door step. “The Carriage held but just Ourselves-“that sentence alone makes viewers picture some kind of journey about to take place, somewhat as if it were the beginning of a reincarnation, or as a detour ride of her life. Dickinson goes on to explain that she is onboarding a “carriage” some could interpret this as the last day on earth “judgment day”; “from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were

She uses personification to make the topic of death more approachable. Dickinson words her work to where death can be used as a metaphor; she words death to have human quality which she uses to compare it to a carriage ride with a gentleman. You can probably hear the rhythm doesn't sound like an ordinary conversation. It sounds more like music, with a specific beat to it. That's because of the poem's meter she is using which is a very unique feature.

(14, 18). During this poem, Dickinson wants us to simply see her version of a person's trip during death. The imagery is supposed to lead us into seeing what the author is describing.