Emily Dickinson

Dying (I heard a fly buzz when I died)

I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm. The eyes beside had wrung them dry, And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset, when the king Be witnessed in his power. I willed my keepsakes, signed away What portion of me I Could make assignable, — and then 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. Composition Date: ca. 1862. Form: abcb (off-rhyme) 2. round my form:  the existing manuscript version of poem 465, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin in two volumes (Cambridge, Mass. , and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981: I, 591 ; fascicle 26 ; PS 1541 A1 1981 ROBA), reads "in the room". 5. beside: the existing manuscript version reads "around". 6. sure: the existing manuscript version reads "firm". 7. king: possibly death. 8. his power: the existing manuscript version reads "the room". 10. I: the existing manuscript version reads "be". 11. Could make assignable, --: the existing manuscript version reads "Assignable,". and then: the existing manuscript version reads "and then it was".