Question

select the correct answer.
what is the overall message of this poem?
the fly
by william blake
little fly,
thy summers 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 & sing,
till some blind hand
shall brush my wing.

if thought is life
and strength & breath
and the want

Explanation:

William Blake's The Fly draws a parallel between the speaker (a human) and a fly. The poem first notes the speaker casually ending the fly's life, then questions the shared vulnerability: both live, enjoy small pleasures, and face an arbitrary, "blind" force that can end their existence. It emphasizes that humans are not inherently superior to other living beings, as all are subject to the same fragile, unknowable fate of sudden death.

Answer:

The poem's overall message is that humans share fundamental vulnerability with other living creatures like the fly—both live, find small joys, and are at the mercy of arbitrary, unforeseen forces that can end their lives, eroding the perceived superiority of humans over other beings.