Theme death the poem movingly depicts the process of

THEME: DEATH
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The poem movingly depicts the process of
dying. The poem’s final stanza portrays a
mind disintegrating as life leaves it.
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There is something powerful about the
repetition of the words “And then” in this
stanza as the speaker lists the stages of her
mental collapse.
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The poem emphasises the indignity of the
speaker’s death. The speaker has prepared for
death, has made her will and gathered her
family around her to say goodbye. The last
thing she hears, however, is not the soothing
words of her family but the buzzing of a fly.

THEME: DEATH
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The last thing she sees is not the faces of
her loved ones but a fly floating in front
of her.
•
The speaker’s last experience in this world
is of a miserable and insignificant insect,
“stumbling” as it buzzes around the room.
•
Many feel that this makes a mockery out of
the moment of her death, robbing her of
grace and dignity.

THE FLY AS PERSONIFICATION OF
DEATH
•
The fly can be seen as a symbol or
personification of death. Flies are often
associated with disease, death and decay.
•
Just as death is often personified as a black-
cloaked figure, here Dickinson personifies
death as a fly blocking out the light of this
world.
•
The idea of death as a fly waiting to claim
each of us at the end of our lives is
unpleasant and disturbing.

THEME: RELIGION
•
This poem presents a rather mocking view of
religion.
•
The speaker and her loved ones wait anxiously
for “the King” to be “witnessed” in the room.