A Study Guide for William Blake's "The Fly"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for William Blake's "The Fly," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535836623

Book preview

10

The Fly

William Blake

1794

Introduction

The Fly is part of the Songs of Experience, a collection of poems that William Blake self-published in 1794 to accompany his 1789 Songs of Innocence. These two volumes contain nearly all of his short poems. After them, he wrote longer poems in a variety of styles, most of which are collectively referred to as the prophecies. Blake published his first volume of poetry in 1783 and was still working at his death in 1827. Few of Blake's works were read or appreciated, however, during his lifetime.

The meaning of The Fly has been widely debated, and division of opinion occurs on the question of whether there is one voice or two in the poem, that is, whether the first three stanzas come from the human and the last two from the fly. The latter may be the more likely interpretation according to many scholars because of the relationship of Blake's text to his illustration. The illustration of The Fly separates the two parts, thus seeming to indicate that there is a shift in narrator and perspective. As the title indicates, the subject of the poem is a fly that is swatted away by the hand of the narrator who then compares the value and vagaries of his life and those of the fly. It should be noted that in all of Blake's poetry, the noun fly signifies any winged insect. While not commonly found in anthologies of poetry, The Fly can be found in any number of editions of Songs of Innocence and Experience, Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. The poem can also be found easily online, but not usually with the illustration that Blake created to illuminate the text.

Author Biography

William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in London, England, the second of seven children born to James Blake, a hosier, and Catherine Harmitage. Their home was comfortable, financially secure, and loving. Blake did not attend school; rather, he worked as an errand boy for a haberdasher, which gave him the opportunity to observe the London of his times. As a child, Blake claimed to have spiritual