In regard to that quote, I am addressing those specific seven subjects in Dickinson’s poetry: snakes, flies, grass, stones, wind, rain, and the moon.
Today’s focus: Flies
When you type the word “fly” into the search field of the Dickinson online archive, 90 entries pop up, and those entries represent thirty-six different poems in which Dickinson used the word “fly.” However, only ten of the poems reference the insect, the fly.
Of course, the most well-known of the “fly” poems is “I heard a fly buzz when I died.” That poem was written in 1862 and first published in 1896.
Can you imagine Victorians reading a poem about a fly – with a “Blue – uncertain – stumbling buzz” heard by one who is dying – only to have “the Windows” fail – “And then I could not see to see”? (LOL – I’ve always equated that concluding line with the abrupt blackout in the finale of “The Sopranos”).
- Thomas Bailey Aldrich
- Madison Cawein
- Danske Dandridge
- John Hay
- Joaquin Miller
- James Whitcomb Riley
- Richard Henry Stoddard
- John Greenleaf Whittier
Of the names above, with which are you familiar with their poetry? (Imma be honest – for me, it’s one.)
I picked one of the poets above at random, Madison Cawein, and I found a poem of similar theme, “A Song for Old Age.” In this case, the speaker isn’t on his deathbed, though his “old heart” is growing “older.” In place of “windows” there are “curtains”:
The curtains, sad and heavy,
Where all shall sleep anon.
The complete poem is HERE.
I wonder what Cawein would have thought of Dickinson’s work?
LOL – I just looked over the poem by Cawein again and noticed that it includes two dashes.
Bully for him!
Of course, I haven’t even addressed the painful modifications Mabel Loomis Todd made to the poem in order to make the lines more “palatable” to the public.
Good grief, check out those first two lines: From “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - The Stillness in the Room“ to “I heard a fly buzz when I died / The stillness round my form” – so that “form” at the end of line 2 would rhyme with “storm” at the end of line 4.
Okay, enough! ; )