come between two things. The fly, representing the loss of control which comes with death, positions itself between the speaker and her peaceful transition into death.
Dickinson’s description of the blue- bottle fly is typically precise, both in her description of its ‘Blue’ colour, the pattern of its ‘uncertain stumbling’ flight and its loud ‘Buzz’. When you consider how small a fly is, it is amazing how much noise they can make and how disruptive this buzzing can be, especially at this particularly sombre moment. The alliteration of the ‘b’ sounds and the onomatopoeic use of the word ‘buzz’ helps to emphasise that disruption. The speaker describes how the fly interposes ‘Between the light – and me –’. It has come between her and the window, but, worse, it has come between her and her peace of mind. Remember that Dickinson was always curious about death and believed there would be a tiny window of opportunity to discover exactly what death is like when part of her was dead but part of her remained alive. She is just about to experience this longed-for moment, but the buzzing distracts and unsettles her, and then she dies: ‘And then the Windows failed – and then/ I could not see to see –’. The verb ‘failed’ is powerful in this context. Windows failing does not seem to make sense, until you realise that they have gone dark, like everything else for the speaker. Her peace of mind has been stolen by the presence of the fly and all it symbolises.
