The Fly: William Blake BBS 2nd Year Visions

 

Poem: The Fly by William Blake

About the Poet

        William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. He is considered one of the greatest figures of the Romantic age, known for his visionary and mystical beliefs. Blake's work often explored themes of religion, politics, and the human experience. His most famous works include "Songs of Innocence and Experience," "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," and "Jerusalem."

The Main Theme of the Poem

The main theme of William Blake's poem "The Fly" is the unimportance and fragility of human life. Through the image of a fly struggling within a window pane, Blake reflects on the brevity of life and the inevitability of death. The poem explores existential themes, suggesting that life is fleeting and ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It invites readers to contemplate the nature of mortality and the transient nature of human existence.

Message of the poem

In the poem, The Fly, the writer William Blake compares his life to the life of a fly he accidentally killed. The poem's overall message is that all creatures are at the mercy of some higher being. Therefore, people should enjoy every day like it were their last one.

The tone of the poem and the symbol of the poem

The tone in Blake's poem is thoughtful. Throughout the poem, Blake asks us as the reader to think deeply and profoundly about what life means. The other tone is a gloomy tone since in this poem, the fly is described as having an insignificant life. The fly primarily symbolizes mortality as flies are numerous and their lives are fleeting. Like the boss's dead son and the other dead soldiers of World War I, the death of the fly represents just one loss among many.

Poem: The Fly

Little Fly,
Thy summer’s play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance,
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath,
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly.
If I live,
Or if I die.

Summary of the Poem

The Fly is a poem written by the English poet William Blake. It was published as part of his collection Songs of Experience in 1794. William Blake compares his life and death to that of a fly which he happens to kill unintentionally, and finally advises the man to enjoy every day like the fly because no one knows when God will take away our life. The poem has been divided into 5 small stanzas having four lines. The rhyme scheme is ABCB DEFE. We don’t have any control over our life or death, so thinking about the future and fearing it is something that makes us sad and joyless. Hence, we should accept our life, submit to our fate, and live as much as we can.

In the first stanza, the poet, who is sitting outside in summer, is thinking about a little fly, whom his thoughtless hand killed. The poet is thus not happy with what he has done. However, his consciousness wakes up after killing the fly. As a Romantic Poet, he is connected to nature. Thus, both the summer and the fly have significance in his poetry. The summer symbolizes hope, prosperity, and joy, whereas the killing of the fly symbolizes doom, blunder, and something quite contrary to the former.

In the second stanza, the poet compares himself to the fly. He asks the fly (in imagination as it is dead now) a rhetorical question, “Aren’t both of them similar to each other?”. In real life, it seems to be a wrong comparison. However, the poet here is talking in terms of their lives. Both of them are created by God, both live their lives, and both have to die one day (though the fly has died now).

The 3rd stanza is continuous from the 2nd one. According to the poet, they are similar in the way that he also dances, drinks, and sings like the fly until one day when someone (here means God) will “brush his wing,” i.e., take away his life as he did to fly. Here, the poet focuses on two important aspects of life – first, both fly and he (or man in general) enjoy their lives; they dance, sing, drink, and do whatever they want. Secondly, both of them are subjected to death, which is inevitable.

In the last two stanzas, the poet says that it is the thought that makes him different from the fly. It is good and bad – good in that it makes humans wiser than the fly and bad in the sense that it makes us fear death. The poet says that for humans, thought is our life, strength, and breath, and even the thought of death (i.e., everything). Thus, if a man stops thinking, he will be as happy as a fly if he lives or if he dies.

Stanza-wise Explanation

Stanza 1

In the first stanza, the poet, who is sitting outside in summer, is thinking about a little fly, whom his thoughtless hand (meaning without thinking his hand) killed. The poet is thus not happy with what he has done. However, his conscious wakes up after killing the fly. As a Romantic Poet, he is connected to nature. Thus, both the summer and the fly have significance in his poetry. The summer symbolizes hope, prosperity, and joy, whereas the killing of the fly symbolizes doom, blunder, and something quite contrary to the former.

Stanza 2

In the second stanza, the poet compares himself to the fly. He asks the fly (in imagination as it is dead now) a rhetorical question, “Aren’t both of them similar to each other?”. In real life, it seems to be a wrong comparison. However, the poet here is talking in terms of their lives. Both of them are created by God, both live their life, and both have to die one day (though the fly has died now).

Stanza 3

The 3rd stanza is continuous from the 2nd one. According to the poet, they are similar in the way that he also dances, drinks, and sings like the fly until one day when someone (here means God) will “brush his wing,” i.e., take away his life as he did to fly. Here, the poet focuses on two important aspects of life – first, both fly and he (or man in general) enjoy their lives; they dance, sing, drink, and do whatever they want. Secondly, both of them are subjected to death, which is inevitable. The fly was flying here and there and suddenly the poet killed it with his hand. Similarly, he will meet the same fate one day.

Stanza 4 & 5

The poet says that it is the thought that makes him (or, in a general sense, man) different from a fly. It is good and bad – good in that it makes humans wiser than the fly and bad in the sense that it makes us fear death. The poet says that for humans, thought is our life, strength, and breath, and even the thought of death (i.e., everything). Thus, if a man stops thinking, he will be as happy as a fly if he lives or if he dies. These lines are quite significant and reflect the message of the poem. The poet is of the view that our thought (or in other words, analysis of paralysis) is something that makes us suffer, fear, and run from death. It is a hurdle to happiness.

If the man stops thinking about death and starts enjoying his today, he will remain as happy as the fly (as the fly never cares about death). Thus, the poem ends with a universal message, i.e., to live life without thinking about the future.

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