"O yes, he seemed to say, death is much stronger than I am." In this short story by Virginia Woolf we are led to feel the thrill of life but also the overpowering forcefulness of death, which even we are powerless to defeat. In the form of a small seemingly insignificant moth, the speaker (presumably Woolf) becomes privy to the wonder of the world and life and then the forcefulness and overwhelming power of death.

The title immediately suggests that the death was some way important to Woolf and maybe is the point where one of the great mysteries of life and death is revealed. Although it only `a Moth' and matters to no one this `frail and diminutive body' becomes `a vessel for light' and a source of illumination for Woolf. Also we are shown through her writing how an unimportant moth is worth a moment's regard...