The fly

Little Fly,
Thy summer's 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 & sing:
Till some blind hand 
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength & breath
And the want 
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "The fly", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 10, published 1794

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by James R. Adler (1950-) , "The fly", 1982 [men's chorus and piano], from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 3.
by Jeff Alexander (1910-) , "The fly", published 1948.
by Violet Balestreri Archer (1913-) , "The fly", 1958, from Two Songs for Soprano Voice and B flat Clarinet, no. 1.
by Rodney Ash (1931-) , "The fly", 1972, from Songs of Experience, no. 4.
by Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (1868-1946) , "The fly", published <<1912.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "The fly", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, orchestra], from Songs of Experience, Volume One, no. 6.
by Hayg Boyadjian (1938-) , "The fly", 1978 [soprano, flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello and bass], from Song Cycle on Poems of William Blake, no. 5.
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876-1972) , "The fly", published 1922.
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) , "The fly", op. 74 no. 10, from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, no. 10.
by James Henry Baseden Butt (1929-) , "The fly", op. 60 no. 3, published 1980, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 3.
by John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) , "Little Fly", published 1912.
by Barney Childs , "The fly", 1953, from Six Settings for Chorus, no. ?
by Alice Upton Close , "The fly", published c1934. [voice, piano]
by William W. Colson (1945-) , "The fly", 1967, first performed 1967 [voice, piano], from Three Blake Songs, no. 3.
by John H. Corina (1928-) , "The fly", 1976, from From Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. ?
by Vernon Duke (1903-1969) [pseudonym] , "The fly", published 1955.
by David Andross Farquhar (1928-) , "The fly", 1949.
by Donato D. Fornuto (1931-) , "Little Fly", published 1973, from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. ?
by Maurice Green , "The fly", published 1829.
by David Haines (1956-) , "The fly", 1972-9, rev. 1984, first performed 1979 [high voice and piano], from Songs of Experience, no. 10.
by Arthur Hinton (1869-1941) , "The fly", op. 19 no. 3, published 1903.
by David Stevenson Kechley , "The fly", 1974, from Faint Harps and Silver Voices, no. ?
by Antoinette Kirkwood (1930-) [pseudonym] , "The fly", op. 7 no. 1.
by Dorothy Hill Klotzman , "Little Fly", published 1967, from Poetical Sketches.
by Huub de Lange (1955-) , "The fly", published 2007 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Four Blake Songs, no. 4.
by Ruth Margaret Lomon (1930-) , "The fly", published 1980, from Five songs after poems by William Blake, no. ?
by Michael Richard Miller (1932-) , "The fly", 1965, from Blake's Garden.
by Frederick A. Mueller (1921-) , "The fly", published 1963, from Five Songs on Blake Texts, no. ?
by Horace Ian Parrott (1916-) , "The fly", 1977, from Three Thoughtful Songs, no. ?
by Mark Raphael , "The fly", published 1971.
by George Rochberg (1918-) , "The fly", published 1963, from Blake Songs.
by Michael Rose (1934-) , "The fly", published 1970, from Summer Music.
by Gerard Schürmann (1928-) , "The fly", 1956.
by Leif Segerstam (1944-) , "The fly", 1970-1, from Six Songs of Experience.
by Netty Simons (1913-) , "The fly", published 1977, from Songs for Wendy.
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "The fly", op. 132 no. 9 (2001) [speaker and tape], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 9.
by Øistein Sommerfeldt (1919-1994) , "The fly", op. 53 no. 1 (1979), from From William Blake's Poetry, no. 1.
by Christopher Steel (1939-) , "Little Fly", published 1967, from Three Songs of William Blake, no. ?
by Anthony J. Taffs (1916-) , "The fly", 1960, from Five Songs of William Blake.
by David Evan Thomas (1958-) , "The fly", 2004. [medium voice, piano]
by Gerard Victory (1921-) , "The fly", 1978, from Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Carl Paul Vollrath (1931-) , "The fly", 1963, from Five Short Songs by William Blake, no. ?
by Philip George Wilkinson (1929-) , "The fly", published 1955.
by Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson (1931-) , "The fly", 1957.
by Philip Winsor , "The fly", 1960, from Two Songs on Poems of William Blake, no. ?

by Karl Habenicht (1956-) , "Die Fliege", op. 4 no. 1 (1985). [high voice and piano]

RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)
FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

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Motyljok

Vzmakh ruki
I – konchen srok
Igry tvojej,
O motyljok!

Razve moj
Ne kratok vek?
I razve ty
Ne chelovek?

Pesn' moju
I tanec moj
Pogubit vzmakh
Ruki slepoj.

No jesli mysl'
Jest' zhizn' i svet,
A smert' – lish' to,
V chjom zhizni net –

Smerti srok
Pust' nedaljok –
Schastliv ja,
Kak motyljok.

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Motyljok", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

a text in English by William Blake (1757-1827) , "The fly", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 10, published 1794 FRE

Date added to the website: 2008-01-17.