I heard a Fly buzz — when I died

Nineteenth-century funerary customs provide a vital context for understanding Dickinson’s death poetry. People were much more accustomed and open about death due to higher mortality rates and a lack of a formalized funeral industry. Women held the responsibility of caring for the dying, readying corpses for burial and memorial, and financial planning for the services (DeGrasse, Carol M. “'That Dark Parade’: Emily Dickinson and the Victorian ‘Cult of Death.’” M.A., the University of Texas at Tyler, 2017, pp. 1–29). People in New England especially focused on “beautifying” loss through “ritualized mourning,” such as the curation of deathbed settings, stopping clocks at the time of death, color-coded attire, flowers, and covered mirrors (DeGrasse 4-5, 13).

Women’s mortuary duties were essential so that the dying family member could complete the requirements of “the Good Death.” Starting in the 1400s with Ars moriendi, a book about dying well, Europeans often formed guidelines towards meeting a peaceful passing. By the 1800s, many of these traditions congealed into the Good Death. The custom valorized stoicism, courage, and piety upon the deathbed . The process depended highly on the act of witness and comfort. For the Victorians, the dying gifted their mourners with farewells of wisdom, love, and spiritual insight.