nk and class are often carried through to the grave. It is interesting though that while the search for the distinguished, such as Richard Corey, may lead us to the grave yard, that search will often uncover the lives of countless others, such as the people of the pavement, whose memories may until then have been neglected. Yet they, in their deaths, can also provide others with a sense of peace that is in some ways a world apart from the fear that we sometimes hold of the moment of death.Such fear is a thing of the past in Emily Dickinson's Poem, "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" as she describes the very essence of stage four of the grieving process - acceptance. Both the dying and the survivors have experienced the depression - the painful process where they must gradually give up all future expectations as they say farewell to the loved one they will lose. The eyes around - had wrung them dry-The breaths were gathered firmFor that last onset when the KingBe witnessed in the room. (Dickinson 5-8)The calmness and the sereneness of the failing life form are interposed with that of a common fly. Dickinson reduces all that life stands for into the form of something that is free to spread its wings and take off for the sky, not in search of heaven, at least not yet. The fly with its uncertain stumbling buzz begins to take on the framework of the only thing standing between life and death as the eyes shut and its image is replaced with one of peace and harmony, escaping this world of struggle to gain God's eternal reward. All three authors deal with and do a good job of portraying the stages of grief that impending death brings, no matter what form it comes in. There are allusions in all three poems of earlier years when life and death were narrower spans in time than they are today as our life expectancies rise. A true sign of the times each author lived in....
