Emily Dickinson uses irony to layer and deepen the meaning of her poems. Irony can be defined as “a discrepancy between appearance and reality” (Pearce, “Irony and David Copperfield”) and comes in several forms including verbal, situational, dramatic, and cosmic irony. In Emily Dickinson's poem “I Heard the Buzz of a Fly When I Died,” Dickinson uses irony to express her feelings of trepidation toward death. To begin with, Dickinson was presumed to have faith in God, but did not regularly attend a church; he seemed to have some doubts about faith. (Pearce, “Focus on the Poetry of Emily Dickinson”). A reader can immediately sense the speaker's concern with death in I Heard the Buzz of a Fly – When I Died. Although it has not been proven, the second stanza of the poem can be assumed to say: "The eyes around - they had squinted - / And the breaths were gathering steadily / For that last onset - when the King was seen - in the room - ” (Dickinson, 203). The speaker imagines that as he lies dying, about to take his last breath, the “Breaths,” that is, his family and friends, will gather around, try to be strong, and wait for a “last Beginning,” or final witness, or spiritual experience before dying. The speaker feels that the living “Breaths” will expect him to witness the “King,” – God or Jesus Christ – as he accepts God and embraces death to pass on to the afterlife. However, the next stanza reveals the speaker's truth. The third stanza interrupts the idea of ​​a spiritual witness and says, “and then there was / There interposed a fly / With an uncertain uncertain buzz – / Between the light – and me –” (Dickinson, 203). As the “Breaths” dutifully remain in place for their loved one as they die, they seem to expect an incredible transformation of the speaker from the world to the afterlife with God. However, the speaker imagines that their final attention will be distracted by something as uninteresting and insignificant as a fly. Perhaps the speaker's description of the fly could also describe his faith: sad, uncertain, and stumbling. The speaker fears that she lacks the conviction necessary to be able to end her life appropriately