The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf: summary, analysis, and full text. Read this classic essay free on Textopian. "The Death of the Moth" by Virginia Woolf is barely a thousand words long — yet it remains one of the most studied essays in English. Summary Woolf watches a day moth flutter against a windowpane. She observes its energy, then watches as it struggles and dies. In this tiny death, she sees the force