I heard a fly buzz---when I died ---Emily

    Dickinson艾米利.狄金森

    作者 胡晓霞 | 2007年08月12日 11:00 | 浏览总次数 (1883)

     I heard a Fly buzz --- when I died ---

     The stillness in the Room

     Was like the stillness in the Air ---

     Between the Heaves of Storm ---

     The Eyes around -- had wrung when them dry ---

     And breaths were gathering firm

     For that last Onset -- when the King

     Be witnessed ---- in the Room ---

     I willed my keepsakes ---Signed away

     What portion of me be

     Assignable --- and then it was

     There interposed a Fly ---

     With Blue ---- uncertain stumbling Buzz -

     Between the light ---- and me ----

     And the windows failed ----and then

     I could not see to see ---

     我听到苍蝇的嗡嗡声——当我死时

     房间里；一片沉寂

     就像空气突然平静下来——

     在风暴的间隙

     注视我的眼睛——泪水已经流尽—

     我的呼吸正渐渐变紧

     等待最后的时刻——上帝在房间里

     现身的时刻——降临

     我已经分掉了——关于我的

     所有可以分掉的

     东西——然后我就看见了

     一只苍蝇——

     蓝色的——微妙起伏的嗡嗡声

     在我——和光——之间

     然后窗户关闭——然后

     我眼前漆黑一片——

    People always have mixed perceptions, thoughts, or beliefs about death. When people think about death, they might experience fear or anxiety as to what the afterlife holds for them. Writers in different time periods throughout history have used different figures to represent death itself,

     as well as the different feelings toward dying and what happens after death. In 1863, Emily Dickinson wrote the slant rhyme poem "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died-," which gives the reader a rare glimpse of dying from the view point of someone who is already dead. Death is a part of life no matter what personal belief one has, and according to Emily Dickinson, life may continue after death.

    Emily's poem is told in the past tense by person who has already died. Emily Dickinson uses past and present tense words together, which indicate a transition between life and death. The poem is ironic and unique because there is a concern with a menial matter such as a buzzing fly at the final moment of life. In the first stanza the narrator states, "I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-". An annoying fly is usually not of utmost importance when one is dying. Death is perceived as a serious time in life. Emily Dickinson sets the tone of the poem intending to shock the reader, which is what happens.

Analysis of I Heard a Fly Buzz When I died by Emily Dickinson

    In Emily Dickinson's poem I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died, the feeling of death being present in the room is the overall tone. The tie in between death and the flies persistent buzzing is one that must be looked at very closely. The buzzing is not something that the average living