On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature)

On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book

This revision guide to Charles Tennyson Turner’s poem ‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’ in the CIE IGCSE Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, Part 4 anthology. The guide includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poetic methods Turner has used

• Understanding the text: an exploration of Turner’s ideas, themes and possible messages in the poem

Overview

to answer an essay question on a poem, it is important that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Turner’s intention and message

‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’ in a nutshell

Victorian poet Charles Tennyson Turner's poem 'On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book'  first appeared in his 1873 collection called Sonnets, Lyrics and Translations. The speaker of the poem finds a crushed fly in a book and reflects on the inevitability of mortality and the importance of leaving a legacy after death.

‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’ breakdown

Lines 1–2

“Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt,

Has crushed thee here between these pages pent;”

Translation

• The speaker reflects on the unfortunate fate of a fly that has been accidentally crushed in a book

Turner’s intention

• The opening line suggests a sense of innocence as the speaker acknowledges that the hand responsible for crushing the fly did not intend any harm

• The fly is described as being “crushed” and “pent” between the pages of the book:

  • This imagery evokes a sense of entrapment and confinement

Lines 3–6

“But thou has left thine own fair monument,

Thy wings gleam out and tell me what thou wert:

Oh! that the memories, which survive us here,

Were half as lovely as these wings of thine!”

Translation

• The speaker reflects on the wings of the fly and what they represent

Turner’s intention

• The speaker acknowledges that despite the fly’s untimely demise, it has left behind a “fair monument”:

  • This suggests that even in death, the fly has managed to leave a mark or a symbol of its existence

  • This idea of a “fair monument” elevates the significance of the fly’s presence beyond its physical form

• The speaker focuses on the fly’s wings, which still retain their beauty and “gleam out” despite the fly’s demise:

  • The wings serve as a reminder of what the fly once was, which evokes a sense of admiration for the inherent beauty of nature’s creations

• In the final lines, the speaker yearns for human “memories” to be as beautiful and lasting as the wings of the fly, highlighting a desire for a more profound and meaningful legacy

Lines 7–8

“Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine

Now thou art gone. Our doom is ever near:”

Translation

• The speaker is reminded of his own mortality

Turner’s intention

• The speaker describes the fly’s wings as “relics of a blameless life”, which suggests that the fly lived innocently and without fault

• Despite its small size and seemingly insignificant existence, the fly leaves behind something of value:

  • This is symbolised by its wings that continue to “shine” even after it has died

  • This could emphasise the idea that every life, no matter how small or brief, has worth or beauty

• The speaker states that “our doom is ever near” suggesting a sense of mortality or inevitability that all living beings will die

Lines 9–10

“The peril is beside us day by day;

The book will close upon us, it may be,”

Translation

• The speaker is reflecting on the mortality of humanity and how people are heading towards death

Turner’s intention

• The speaker suggests that the threat of mortality is constantly present and “beside us day by day”:

  • The word “peril” implies a sense of danger or risk, highlighting the inevitability of death as a fundamental aspect of human existence

• The speaker uses a metaphor of a “book” closing to represent the end of life and links back to the image of the fly being dead in a closed book:

  • The speaker uses the metaphor to serve as a reminder that death is near and an individual’s story comes to an end once to their book closes

  • It also suggests that all creatures – human or fly – will eventually die

• The phrase “it may be” introduces an element of uncertainty, acknowledging that death is a possibility that looms over every individual:

  • This uncertainty adds to the sense of foreboding and serves as a reminder of the unpredictability of life

Lines 11–14

“Just as we lift ourselves to soar away

Upon the summer-airs. But, unlike thee,

The closing book may stop our vital breath,

Yet leave no lustre on our page of death.”

Translation

• The speaker states the people may die without leaving a lasting impact

Turner’s intention

• The speaker states that people will “lift” themselves to “soar away”:

  • This draws a parallel between the fly’s natural inclination to fly and the human desire for freedom

• The imagery of soaring “upon the summer-airs” suggests a sense of liberation and upward movement, highlighting the human aspiration to escape from earthly confines

• Again, the speaker uses the metaphor of a book to symbolise death but suggests that the impact of the death may differ significantly:

  • The presence of the fly is immortalised through the “lustre” left on the page but humans may perish without leaving a visible legacy

• The phrase “our page of death” suggests the finality of human mortality and the potential for our lives to end without leaving a lasting impression or memory

Writer's methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Turner’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

The poem consists of 14 lines and is written in sonnet form.

Structure

The poem has 14 lines and is written in regular iambic pentameter.

Language

The writer has used a range of language techniques to reflect mortality and legacy.

Understanding the text

It is not enough to just know the poem really well as all questions in the IGCSE encourage an informed, personal response. Therefore, you need to develop a solid understanding of the theme, main ideas, settings, situations and events depicted. Even though context is not explicitly assessed in the IGCSE, it is important that you have an awareness of background information that is relevant to the main themes in the poem as this can help you develop a sustained, critical understanding of the text. This is so that you are able to demonstrate individuality and insight in your answer. To help you do this, the section below has been divided into two main themes that Turner explores in ‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’:

• The inevitability of death

• Legacy

The inevitability of death

• Charles Tennyson Turner was a Victorian cleric and poet who is most recognised as an accomplished writer of sonnets:

  • Turner always preferred to write in sonnet form, a more traditional poetic form than was fashionable at the time

  • His poetry reflected his interest in spiritual ideas and nature 

• He was the elder brother of Alfred Lord Tennyson, who is the more well known poet from the Tennyson family

• He shared a close bond with his brother and his first appearance as a poet was when he published Poems by Two Brothers with his younger sibling in 1827

• During Turner’s time, the British empire was the biggest colonial power and the Victorians maintained strict moral and social standards

• After the death of Queen Victoria’s husband, mourning became common as the Queen publicly mourned and grieved for her husband:

  • Therefore, death was not an unusual topic for exploration at the time

• The poem begins by reflecting on the fly’s death but soon changes when the speaker begins to reflect on the inevitability of death and its imminent approach

• The end of the eighth line “our doom is ever near” changes the tone of the poem as the perspective shifts from the speaker observing the dead fly to him reflecting on “our” mortality:

  • The use of the word “our” reveals that the speaker is thinking about humanity in general and how we are all closer to death than we think

• The change of tone persists to the end of the poem:

  • Turner uses words such as “doom”, “peril”, “vital” and “death” to reflect the universal fear that death could come at any moment

Legacy

• While death is a clear theme in the poem, one might argue that the most significant theme is the desire for a legacy

• The speaker of the poem begins by lamenting on the death of the fly but also observing how the fly has left a “monument” behind:

  • This is a significant worry for the speaker as he is afraid of dying before having time to leave a legacy

• The use of the phrase “fair monument” suggests that even in death, the fly has managed to leave a mark that will last beyond its physical form:

  • The use of the word “gleam” to describe the fly’s wings suggests that, despite the fly’s gruesome demise, it leaves behind something beautiful

• The speaker’s desires are clear: he longs for a legacy as beautiful as the fly’s wings so that when he passes, he will have left something behind

• The desire to leave a lasting legacy may reflect the poet’s innermost fears and anguish, which many other writers and artists may also relate to:

  • However, one might argue that this is also a universal concern that the reader may also be able to relate to

• The poem uses the image of the fly and the metaphor of its wings as a fair “monument” to explore the idea of a legacy and what we leave behind:

  • The poet may have written this poem as a warning and a reminder for the reader to make their mark on the world so their “lustre” remains after they die