The theme of death is expresses with many .
ideas in the poem; the focus on the fly, the description of mourners gathered around the dying speaker, and the reference to the loss of sight and consciousness. The first line expresses the theme of death literally in the words, "when I died (Baym 1202)", and in the use of the words, "I heard a fly buzz (Baym 1202)". A fly lays its eggs in dead organisms; a decaying corpse is often seen swarming with flies. The placement of words in the line, the fly being heard buzzing after the death of the speaker, reinforces the idea of the speaker's physical death and decay, since flies gather around animals shortly after their death. The capitalization of the word "Fly (Baym 1202)" further implies the significance of the fly to the speaker. .
In the next three lines of the poem, the "Stillness in the Room (Baym 1202)" is described. Stillness can be related to death. A dead body can not make sound, nor can it move, it can almost be defined by the word "still". .
The presence of mourners, and its relation to the theme of death, is expressed in line five. Line five reads, "The Eyes around-had wrung them dry (Baym 1202)". An eye is an organ of sight and light sensitivity. Thus, someone may be observing the speaker. .
The presence of a whole group of mourners is implied with the word "around", suggesting that the speaker is surrounded by observing mourners. The idea of mourning .
can be inferred from the use of the word wrung, which is understooded to mean: extracted liquid by twisting. If eyes are "wrung dry", then they have been exhausted of liquid. Since crying is generally caused by emotional distress, such as gloominess; this is a common trait of the Gothic movement.
The next lines, "And Breaths were gathering firm For that last onset-when the King Be witnessed-in the room (Baym 1202)" shows the mourners" anticipation of the Speaker's death. "Gathering (Baym 1202)," shows the coming or bringing together and "firm (Baym 1202)," shows fixed, definite, constant feeling among all of the mourners.
