The Poet and the Fly: Art, Nature, God, Mortality, and Other Elusive Mysteries

Hudson (Christian Writer’s Manual of Style) collects the insightful ruminations of seven poets who use the fly as a catalyst to reflect on some of life’s prominent mysteries. The poets, which include Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Farren, and Thomas Traherne, focus on the common but enigmatic insect to meditate on themes of existence, mortality, and the power of story. In the poem “The Fly,” William Blake uses the mystery of imagination to identify with the bug. In “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died,” Emily Dickinson contemplates what happens to the soul after death. Tragic 18th-century Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa, who wrote “more than two hundred” haikus about flies, wrote “Don’t Kill That Fly” to extoll the Buddhist example of compassion. Hudson explores each writer’s historical context, motivation for writing, and connection to the mysterious qualities of the fly. He also sprinkles the text with statistics and biological facts about the fly. As Hudson deconstructs each composition, he weaves in his own wonder and faith in knowing he has much more to learn. This judicious treatment of introspective poetry and literary history is a real treat. (July)