On the Theme and the Use of Dashes in Emily Dickinson’s“I heard a Fly buzz—when I died— ”

伍勇进

Abstract： Death and eternity are always displayed in Emily Dickinsons poetry. In her life， Dickinson created a lot of death poems， among which “I Heard a Fly Buzz — When I Died —” is the representative. This paper attempts to analyze the poem in depth from two aspects of the theme and dash， exploring the death aesthetics behind it， as well as the unique effect of the use of dash.

Key words： Death and eternity; Dickinson; dash

1.Introduction：

Emily Dickinson was born in Amhers， Massachusetts and lived there all her life. Dickinson wrote nearly 2，000 poems， although fewer than 20 of them were printed in her lifetime. She once wrote in a poem： “This is my letter to the World/That never wrote to Me.” If her poems were her letters， she did not seem to have had a chance to mail most of them. For those of us who know her through her poems， the few skeletal “facts” we know about her life do not seem to be really representative of her， for the poems reveal moments that are electrifying， thus seemingly inconsistent with her reclusive existence.[1]

2.Theme： Death and eternity

In this poem Dickinson gives a special account of the moment of death. The whole piece unfolds from the point of view of a dying man. In the process of death， there are suffocation， helplessness， nostalgia and reluctance. However， when the dying person bid farewell to the world， there appears a fly buzzing all the time. The narrator maintains an objective and calm attitude and presents a reality： at the end of life， there is no spiritual light of God， which is advocated by traditional religions and leads the soul from death to eternal life;on the contrary， in the silent hours of dying， the only trace of life is a fly. In nineteenth-century America， a time when almost everyone was puritanical， this incongruous portrayal is deeply ironic and such a black humor. Jocular flies dilute the horror and gloom of death， making it bland， plain， even painless. Death is no longer so terrible， but just a thing with a little more dry and lost sense. On a deeper level， the poet focuses on the philosophical thinking of “life as a view of death”， and the intrusion of flies and “buzzing” are meaningless， which constitutes a kind of incongruity and even comical with the significant death， which leave people feel the absurdity and meaningless of life. The whole poem is immersed in the poets crazy state of imagining and longing for death. The poet tries to explore the meaning of life existence with his extremely strong “death instinct”， and in the face of the absurd world， death seems to be the best way to fight against life.

3.Dash： Sound， form and meaning

Dash is remarkable in Emily Dickinsons manuscripts and it is almost Dickinsons exclusive mark of punctuation. There are four stanzas in poem 465， and the dashes are used cleverly in the line 1， 3， and 4 of each stanza. These dashes have their own unique characteristics of sound， form and meaning， which play a unique role in the revelation of the theme and the expression of the narrators feelings.

3.1 Sound： footsteps and musical beat

As is easily perceived， dashes are scattered throughout the poem. They are similarly like footsteps from the beginning of the poem to the end. On the one hand， the existence of these dashes is like Deaths footsteps or the sound of times flying. On the other hand， these punctuated dashes are like the muffled drumbeat of some prayer service.

3.2 Form： wind， sword and water

“Was like the Stillness in the Air —”

In this line， the dash comes after “Stillness in the Air”， and first， the dash at the end of the line creates a vacuum of sound， indicating a flat and silent state of the surrounding space; second， here the dash is like a pause in music， symbolizing silence and heralding the beginning of the climax of death; third， at the same time， the dash are like a minus， representing the loss of sound， the passing of time， the withering of life， and also like a parallel sword through the air. The pronunciation of the three “s”s in “Stillness” is like wind， and the double “l”s in the word “Stillness” have a feature of being sharp， pierce and soaring， which also endows the dash with the shape of a wind and the properties of a sword.

At the same time， these scattered dashes in the whole poem also create a special visual effect. After reading this poem， readers can feel that they are gradually lost in the flow of time， flowing between the lines like water， which not only brings visual impact to readers， but also enhances the integrity of the poem.

3.3 Meaning： fading consciousness and controlled tempo

“With Blue — uncertain — stumbling Buzz —

Between the light — and me —

And then the Windows failed — and then

I could not see to see —”

In the last stanza of the poem， seven dashes are used in succession. These intermittent dashes reflect the narrators fading consciousness， struggles and innovations exposed in the last moments before his death.

“I heard a Fly buzz — when I died —”

“The Eyes around — had wrung them dry —”

“Be witnessed — in the Room —”

“With Blue — uncertain — stumbling Buzz —

Between the light — and me —”

In these lines， dashes foreground keywords of difference， they make important semantic words more distinct. By isolating words from other words， the dashes manage to control the pace or tempo of the line（s） or poem， thus not only the isolated words and/or lines， but also the whole poem are emphasized. Meanwhile， dashes slows the readers attention and makes him slow down to think about the relationship between death and eternity.

4.Conclusion：

Dickinson did not write for publication all her life and didnt have to go the traditional way to satisfy the editors. She wrote it all for herself， describing her intense emotions， her wonderful fantasies， and her insights into death and eternity， which breaks the traditional language boundaries， changes the traditional meaning of linguistic signs in readers mind， and prompts readers to think about the relationship between these signs themselves and other contents of poetry texts. This new attempt shows people the infinite potential of the ideographic function of poetic language signs， and creates a broader path for the creation of poetry.[2]

References

[1]童明.美國文学史[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社， 2008：129.

[2]周平，张吉生.论迪金森语言符号的表情手法[J].外语与外语教学，2001（11）：6-8+51.

（湖南师范大学 外国语学院 湖南 长沙 410081）