Download Audio

I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - (591)

BY EMILY DICKINSON

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 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 then the Windows failed - and then

I could not see to see -

Emily Dickinson, “I Heard a Fly buzz—when I died” from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright 1945, 1951, ©1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted with the permission of The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)

In honor of the late great Emily Dickinson's birthday on December 10th, we're featuring this classic from Dickinson read by poet Kay Ryan. To hear more from the former Poet Laureate, please tune in to this podcast.

Kay Ryan reads "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-" by Emily Dickinson [:59]

Transcript

I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - (591)

Recent Podcasts

Kay Ryan reads "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-" by Emily Dickinson [:59]

Transcript

I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - (591)

Recent Podcasts

Stay Connected to the National Endowment for the Arts