"The Fly" by William Blake has a very loose structure, and uses a trimeter rhyme scheme. The purpose of using trimeter is for the short lines to symbolize the brevity of life. The first of the five stanzas describes an innocent fly being thoughtlessly killed by a human being. The second compares a man to a fly and a fly to a man. The third and fourth explain how flies and humans are similar, and the fifth affirms that man is indeed like a fly. Death is repeatedly referred to as a hand. The fly is killed by being "brushed away" by the human's "thoughtless hand." The human is killed by the "blind hand" of death. Blake uses the technique of juxtaposition of the fly and the speaker. The human sees the fly as powerless, and then realizes that humans could be seen in the same manner by a higher order. He says he is fated to live his life "Till some blind hand/ Shall brush my wing", comparing his death to that of the fly. The first stanza uses the imagery of the human placed in a God-like position when he kills the fly. When the human speaking from the point of view of a human, the fly symbolizes those below the speaker in society. The theme of "The Fly" is man's extreme weakness in comparison to God/death/fate. The poem also uses a common theme of Blake's: innocence and experience. The fly is totally innocent and powerless. The speaker realizes that human beings are powerless in the same way, and this passes him into the realm of experience. http://www.bignerds.com/papers/19900/A-Brief-Analysis-Of-William-Blake-s/

Hi i was student of English Literature,now i`m graduated. when i saw your question i searched my notes but i didn`t find anything just the poem so i searched on net and read that,thanks for poem.

English Literature The fly is metaphorical of man, for the fly represents mans place in the world. In doing so, the ''little fly" exemplifies the futility of man to God as God simply brushes away mankind with his "blind hand" thoughtlessly. Gods nature is questioned here as the classical theists conception of God is challenged as his carelessness replaces benevolence. The first three stanzas demonstrate innocence through the symbol of a fly. The engraving which connects to the poem shows a child's arms being lifted by an experienced elder like a flies wings, thus, illustrating that the fly is like an innocent child who inevitably will be exposed to death and the elder is preparing them for this. Initially, within the first three stanzas, Blake likens himself to the fly to show the comparison of the fly being inferior and unimportant to man as is man to God. The fourth and fifth stanza then continue by distinguishing man from the fly as the fly upholds the carefree nature, similar to Lyca in 'The Little Girl Lost'. The fly has no fear as it has little awareness of its futility in life and therefore does not worry about death, this is a state of innocence that Blake admires. However, the ominous state of experience is looming for mankind which exposes humans to the threat of death. By doing so Blake manages to segregate the two contrary states through the structure, yet intertwines them within the poem. The philosophical thought of questioning existence also demonstrates Blake's characteristic concerns about institutionalised religion. The 'happy fly, if I live, or if i die' conveys the flies lack of worry about his mortality. This portraying the message that man should not live in fear of death, which religion imposes upon society. This is found in the last stanza as this is where Blake explores the differences between man and the fly as man cannot share the flies naivety found within innocence as man is exposed to the corruption of life and religion through experience. http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/William_Blake/1826/comments/17

Have a look here The Fly Analysis William Blake : Summary Explanation Meaning ... The Fly Analysis William Blake critical analysis of poem, review school overview. Analysis of the poem. literary terms. Definition terms. ... www.eliteskills.com/analysis.../The_Fly_by_William_Blake_analysis.php

_ am I a happy fly: metaphor _ some blind hand: symbol (of death) or a form of synecdoche (part for the whole) _ thoughtless hand and blind hand: qualifying a hand of "thoughtless" or "blind" is a figure of speech, but I've forgotten which one, sorry. I suppose it could be a hypallage? _ the hand brushing away the summer's play is also figurative, because the hand is brushing away the fly, not the summer's play. Metonymy? Not sure... There are other figures of speech (apostrophe, for instance, at the beginning of the poem; chiamus I thee thou me), but I'm not sure whether they come under the appellation of figurative language. Well... a few - simple - thoughts: The poet compares himself to the fly because like the insect's, his existence is insignificant: mortal (he too will be brushed off by a hand, in time) and devoted to apparently frivolous activities ("I dance and drink and sing") which will be interrupted just as brutally as the fly's "summer play". You would expect him to mean, also, that he is to the fly what God is to man. So in way, there is a double identification here through the idea of death: the poet is like the fly, but he is also like God, or whatever divinity brings death. This could be construed as slightly vain on the part of the poet, and rather blasphemous (does God too, like him, drink and play and sing?). But it also gives an idea of the connections existing between all the realms of the universe. In a way, it brings to mind the medieval world-view: you know, with the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm etc. It could be, though, that the meaning of the poem is not as simple as it first looks: there are several things that are difficult to understand: _ note the shift from "thoughtless hand" (the poet's) to "blind hand", which suggests that what brings him death is not God - how could the conventional, omniscient God be described as "blind"?. So what is it? Sorry, I don't have time to look up blindness and see what could be behind this word. _ note the fact that if the poet compares himself to a fly (a little cliché, so not unexpected), he also compares the fly to a man, and this is stranger and more surprising. _ the last two stanzas are more complex: he assimilates thought to life, and lack of thought to death, and true enough, his thoughtless brought death to the fly. But it can also be interpreted differently: lack of thought, for a human being, is death too. (I don't see if you understand what I mean, I have trouble expressing my own thoughts on the subject!) You are alive only if you think. _ The connection between the last two stanzas: he will be a happy fly whether he lives or die, ie if he thinks or not, it won't change anything to his state of mind. I can't help thinking this is rather ironical, but then again, I've never studied Blake in depth, so don't know whether it's an uncharacteristic thought for him or not. http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39002