In case you don't remember the poem (and want to), here she blows:
I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air -
Between the Heaves of Storm -
The Eyes around - had wrung them dry -
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset - when the King
Be witnessed - in the Room -
I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable - and then it was
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 -
First of all, that fly is amazing. It looks, and I know this sounds silly to say, like a real fly! The colors are so vibrant and varied, and I love that blue you emphasized in his rear.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love is how the realness of the fly is played against the unrealness of the background! The window's corners and panes are not measured and level, giving the whole thing the look of a German impressionist film, like something out of the set of _The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari_! And then that bright red on the walls, and all the colors in the window panes! It's an emotionally drenched dream scape with this startling fly at its center--not in mid flight and not sitting on the window pane, but just there, like the inevitability of death itself.
The piece is striking!
I am also a big fan of this fly and his hints of iridescence. The hint of light inside the window is also very terrific!
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