The persona in the poem is a woman and she is already dead! In this poem, the theme of death is described using the symbol of a fly. The speaker explains how she heard the buzz of a fly on her death bed. Until when she ‘could not see’ this means that she passed on. By using various features of style like irony and symbols the narrator has managed to show reality and idealism of innate feelings towards the subject matter.
In the first stanza, the use of the fly which is capitalized, allows the reader to focus on the occasion when flies like to buzz around, mainly on corpses! On the other hand, it symbolizes the sole hope of the persona, that may affect her destiny. She does not like the ‘stillness of the air’ and quietness of the room. The mood felt from these words describes the emotions of the people who are beside the bed of the persona and their helpless effort to stop death from devouring her or life to save her. What a tragedy!
The persona is dying in a very horrific state but in a painless manner. Before she becomes less aware of her surrounding she is deterred by the ‘buzz’ of the fly. She is strongly waiting for death to take her smoothly. The fly is disturbing her sweet pathway to glory. The fly may represent Satan who is trying to derail her. The biblical allusion can be traced back to when the devil is also called the Lord of Flies, with a capital letter, in the same way, it’s written in the poem. The punctuation of the poem, with commas gives a chance to ponder on the subject matter and thus give a rhythmic pattern that is irregular. Words like ‘storm’ and ‘form’ in the first stanza bring rhyme. The last line ‘see to see’ also bring rhyme that summarizes the theme in the poem in a repetitive nature. The symbolic nature of the fly is somewhat mysterious. In the second stanza the poem focuses on the people around her, the poem uses figurative language in the past tense, for example, when the observers ‘wrung’ their hands. The oxymoron ‘last onset’ that differentiates between the past life and future brings a lamenting tone. There is a deity ‘King’ who may symbolize God who is supposed to elevate the persona to celestial heights. This God is giving the persona a second chance to start a new life in heaven. The importance of celebrating life and losing a loved one is shown in a somber mood here. The voice projection is lamenting. She remembers her days before is in this situation. She uses clever dictions like ‘window’ closing. This shows the opportunities and chances in one’s life have ended.
In the third stanza, the main focus is on the life of the persona. She has a will, ‘I willed my Keepsakes’. The life savings of the persona that she invested during her lifetime is left to the beneficiaries. She really wishes to leave behind better possession than material. Her positive qualities achieved during her lifetime is the precious possessions she wishes to leave behind. Ironically, a fly intercepts this overwhelming session with the onomatopoeic ‘buzz’ a very irritating sound! Instead of a Godly interception, the devil shows up, what an irony.
The last stanza shares the messages brought by this fly that intervenes the persona and the light. The fly has ‘blue…stumbling buzz’ that gives the poor dying persona hope to ‘see to see’ as she dies. We clearly see how the poem characters are juxtaposed and bring the idea of death mysterious yet metaphorically.