I heard a Fly buzz -- when I died -- 
The Stillness [in the Room]1
Was like the Stillness in the Air -- 
Between the Heaves of Storm.

The Eyes [around]2 -- had wrung them dry -- 
And Breaths were gathering [sure]3
For that last Onset -- when the King
Be witnessed -- in [the Room]4 -- 

I willed my Keepsakes -- Signed away
What portion of me [be
Assignable -- and then it was]5
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 --

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ some versions of the original poem have "round my form"
² "" : "beside"
³ "" : "firm" (used by Rusche)
⁴ "" : "his power"
⁵ "" : "I / Could make assignable, -- and then"

Text Authorship:

• by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1896 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Norman Dinerstein (b. 1937), "Dying", published 1961 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Four Settings for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 1, New York, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
• by Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "I heard a fly buzz when I died" [ soprano, chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra ], from Amherst Requiem, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Marjorie M. Rusche , "I heard a fly buzz", 1994 [ soprano, clarinet, violin, and cello ], from Songs of Love and Death, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Donald Ibrahim Swann (1923 - 1994), "Dying" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by William Sydeman (b. 1928), "I heard a fly buzz when I died", published 1970 [ soprano or tenor and violoncello ], from Three Songs after Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 93

Da war ’ne Fliege, als ich starb,
ich hörte nur ihr Surr’n
im Zimmer, bleiern still - wie Luft
in Ruhe vor dem Sturm.

Die Augen um mich, leer geweint,
und für den letzten Schritt
ein Atem holen - wenn der Herr
ins Sterbezimmer tritt.

Vermacht war das, was übrig blieb
von meinem Erdensein,
da mischte vor dem letzten End
sich ein Fliege ein

mit blauem, unstetem Gebrumm
im Lichte mir zu stehn -
dann brach das Auge mir, und ich
konnt’ nicht mehr sehn, zu sehn.