Death and the absence of faith in Emily Dickinson's poetry

¶ … Death in Two Poems by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) wrote often about death, especially the moments before death (as in Dickinson's poem "465," or "I heard a Fly buzz -- when I died") or the period after death (as in Dickinson's poem "712," or "Because I could not stop for Death -- "). Such poems may have reflected Dickinson's lack of religious faith. Dickinson's family was deeply religious (McQuade, p. 175). Yet Emily Dickinson rejected religion and became agnostic. I will analyze, compare, and contrast the theme of death in two of Dickinson's poems, "465" and "712."

In "465," or "I heard a Fly buzz -- when I died," the speaker lies dying, surrounded by family and friends, awaiting the speaker's death:

when the King

Be witnessed -- in the Room -- (Lines 7-8)

But instead, death is punctuated only by a fly's buzzing. Meanwhile, family and friends are gathered around the bedside anxiously awaiting the coming of the Lord to escort the soul of the speaker to heaven. However, all that actually occurs is the fly's buzzing. An implied theme is the absence of an afterlife, when the death of the speaker is greeted not by the Lord, but instead only by that most earthly of sounds -- the banal buzzing of an annoying fly.

Dickinson's poem "712" or "Because I could not stop for Death -- " also deals with death, but in this case, death's aftermath. Here, Death is personified as a carriage driver who "kindly" stops for the speaker, since the speaker "could not stop for Death -- "(Line 1). It is open to interpretation why the speaker "could not stop for Death," but once inside the carriage, the speaker puts away My labor and my leisure too,

Were toward Eternity -- (Lines 22-24)

In both "465" ("I heard a Fly buzz -- when I died"), and "712" ("Because I could not stop for Death -- ") death is a theme. In neither poem is the speaker afraid or resisting death. In the first, the speaker simply awaits death while family and friends anxiously mark the "onset" and arrival of the "King" (which never comes). In the second, Death, is a kindly carriage driver, and welcomed. Neither poem contains inference of fear of death. Both poems may therefore underscore Emily Dickinson's own lack of both a fear of death, and a belief in God or an afterlife.