1. “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –”
Emily Dickinson

8. Emily Dickinson Born: 1830 Died: 1886 Born in Amherst, Massachusetts
Family educated and political
Energetic child
Separated herself from others
Refused to leave house
Obsessed with writing
7 poems published during life

9. Dickinson’s Poetry Many about death Wrote 1,775 poems
Sent four to Thomas Higginson, a critic
Odd punctuation
Uneven meter and rhyme

10. I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –
Speaker on brink of death:
Between the light – and me –
Fly = Death
Dies in last two lines:
And then the Windows failed – and then
I could not see to see –

11. I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –
“The eyes around – had wrung them dry –”
Gathered people crying
King = God
“I willed my Keepsakes”
Made a will
Prepared

12. Overall Message Describes what happens at death Death like a fly
Death still present despite her will
“And then the Windows failed – and then/ I could not see to see –”