The Fly
Little Fly
Thy summers play,
My thoughtless hand
Has brush'd 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.
Commentary
The Fly touches me, like all great art, at several levels. The words are simple yet so profound- le mot juste. The structure is perfect for the subject, the tone and the meaning. The rhythm simple yet powerful, again eminently suited to the tone, and the message. The “meaning” is so clear, Blake succeeds so well, seemingly effortlessly- a 5 year-old and a 50 year-old can both access it equally well:
...the pages blur,
the walls
transparent.
Finally, it is a delight to read aloud, and silently- a joy of a poem.
— Sriram
Show 6 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Nicholas Horsburgh · 23 May 2001
A great little poem! And here is another by Ogden Nash:
The Fly
God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.
Regards,
Nick
PS A great little site, too.
Jason Nyilas · 4 June 2003
I agree with Sriram. Like most of Blake’s poems, the complex is simply put which is a true mark of genius. As for being enjoyed by a fifty or five year old, my five year old son, Justin, loves to read this poem again and again. He laughs at its humour and simplicity as well as its rhythm. As for his Dad, the poem changes meaning with each reading.
aizramelav · 17 June 2003
Thank you Sandi!
Your poem’s interpretation will be very useful for my oral exam about the poem of William Blake! bye
marzia
CMM0300 · 10 December 2006
Yes; Blake is making a profound observation about life - not just human existance, but Life as Schopenhauer sees it.
The one ‘thing in itself’ that life is must be experienced by all who life. Yet the ‘objective’ must surrender to the ‘subjective’ and then thought brings us back again to the ‘thing in itself’ - in some strange quadrille: we only can experience life through individual realities, which are only interpreted by the self. But does that make us experience a ‘different life’ from an unthinking fly? Or arew we participants in the one and the same life (as a thing in itself)?
A Val-Hackett
Natalie Bell · 8 March 2007
Need help on the fly peom, have any other explications ?, I’m so confused please help ! Thank You get back to me soon. thanks,
the student in need
Manoj Kitta · 26 June 2007
Real good poem,
As it is said the one who learns to live in the present and could internalise the “powe of Now” is the .. happy fly…
Manoj Kitta