The Nature Of Life And Death In William Blake's Little Fly

William Blake’s poem, “Little Fly”, critically examines the nature of life and death. Using this poem, Blake poses several questions for mankind.

The poet, through the use of an insignificant insect as a fly, addresses the quality of human life, and explores the idea that man lives constantly under the shadow of death.

From a literal perspective, it would appear or one can assume, that Blake wrote the poem after observation of a “fly.” However, from a more critical standpoint it’s clear that the poet delved into something more profound than just a mere killing of an “innocent fly”. To achieve this,

Blake excellently employs the use of juxtaposition. This literary technique is used to develop comparison and contrast after two things are seen or placed close

When the poet speaks about, “Till some blind hand shall brush my wings”, this suggests that sometimes there’s no preparation for death; it comes so sudden you can hardly expect it.

Blake does not only stop there, but to emphasize his message on the importance of life he goes further by engaging the use of a spatial metaphor. With this device, the poet compares life with three other concepts which astounds us.

He expresses the fact that life is thought and strength and breadth. In order words, he says death is equal to the want of thought. What Blake suggests here, is that sometimes our actions are faster than our thoughts. Somethings in life like “a fly” can very well annoy us at times. We become so caught up in our anger and haste to react, that we hardly consider the consequences of our thoughtless action. Sadly, more often than not, our irresponsibility in actions cost us our lives. Additionally, by saying thought is life; the poet depicts a clear difference between man and a fly. When the thoughts in a man cease, he is no more, while for the fly there’s no thought at all. He explores the notion of conscious thoughts verses lack of