Micro-Landscapes of the AnthropoceneMain MenuMarginal WorldsPlant WorldsAnimal WorldsAmy Huang, Natasha Stavreski and Rose RzepaWatery WorldsInsect WorldsBird-Atmosphere WorldsContributed by Gemma and MerahExtinctionsMarginal WorldsSam, Zach and AlexE-ConceptsAn emergent vocabulary of eco-concepts for the late AnthropoceneSigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d
Intra-action between the poetic persona and the fly
12021-02-23T16:45:39-08:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d309861plain2021-02-23T16:45:39-08:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7dPreviously, I have read the relationship between the poetic persona and the fly in Poem 591 as an interaction – two beings relating to each other on their own terms. A fly and a human. However, by considering these two beings as entangled with each other in a moment of death, I now see the possibility of the anthropomorphic fly. What of the fly that hears a human breathe their last breaths? In Poem 591, we may empathise with two beings experiencing a morbid yet natural part of life – death. There is a common myth that in death, animals wish to be alone. The fly does not allow this for the poetic persona. In death, the poetic persona reveals to us an intra-connection, and the fly provides solidarity for its fading human companion.
1media/Dickinson_Fasicicle_591.jpg2018-09-05T02:14:37-07:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7dI heard a Fly buzz - when I died - (591)5Close Reading of Emily Dickinson's Poem 591image_header2021-02-23T16:44:23-08:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d