Page 88 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“This is My Letter to the World”
by Emily Dickinson, page 69

Vocabulary
[none]

1. Explain the meaning of the lines “Her message is committed/To hands I cannot see.” To whose
“hands” does the poet refer?

The poet refers to the hands of the future readers of this “letter”—that is, this poem.

2. To whom did “Nature” tell “news”? What is the news?

Nature told “news” to the poet; the news is the content of the poem/s. The poet is positioning
herself as Nature’s scribe.

“I heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”
by Emily Dickinson, page 70

Vocabulary
heaves – coughs
interposed – interrupted
assignable – selected, set apart

1. What is the setting of the poem?

The speaker is on her deathbed when she hears a fly buzz above her.

2. What is the metrical scheme of the poem?

The lines alternate in tetrameter and trimester iambs. It should be noted that this pattern is one
of Dickinson’s trademarks.

3. The first stanza of the poem compares the speaker’s room to a storm using what literary
device?

The comparison is made through a simile.

4. To what is Dickinson referring to when she writes of “the king” on line seven?

Dickinson is referring to God, who will “be witnessed in his power” when she dies.

5. In your own words, describe what role the fly plays in the speaker’s death.

Answers may vary. Example: Just after the speaker has signed her will and faces death, the fly
comes between her and “the light”—which could signify a light in the room, or the light of
God.

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