John Donne The Flea

Donne’s poem warns that the woman that the man seeks is not necessarily worth catching. That idea is seen in lines

will not go to bed with the poet. Following this he tries to tell her

He goes on to suggest that, when she has killed the flea that holds blood, which in this case is considered as ?life?, from both him and her, that the blood lost had not weakened them (?Find?st not thyself, nor me the weaker now?) and she had not lost any honour. Therefore, with these points considered, the blood she would lose to him would not make her weaker and she would not lose any honour, ?Just so much honour, when thou yield?st to me/ Will waste, as this flea?s death took life from thee?. To some extent, both poets express a way in which they will consummate or have consummated their mistress. Marvell suggests that they should ?roll all their strength and all/ Their sweetness into one ball? and ?tear? their pleasures ?with rough strife/ Through the iron gates of life.? Whereas Marvell explains the consummation as aggressive, sensual and romantic, Donne uses the flea, a very insignificant, unromantic creature, to imply sexual intercourse, ?and in this flee, our two bloods mingled be.?

The flea enjoys the blood and so does the man enjoy foreplay. The pamper'd swells could be that of sexual organs before sex and yet, because that is not happening, the flea is having a better time at the moment than he is, by sucking their blood. I think that by using this comparison, John Donne is being very intellectual and at this point I feel he may win his argument. The second stanza, John Donne becomes weaker as the girl starts to defend herself and he tries to convey his love for her.

John Donne’s poems are similar in their content. They usually point out at same topics like love, lust, sex and religion; only they are dissimilar in the feelings they express. These subjects reflect the different stages of his life: the lust of his youth, the love of his married middle age, and the piety of the latter part of his life. His poem,’ The Flea’ represents the restless feeling of lust during his youthful days but it comes together with a true respect for women through the metaphysical conceit of the flea as a church in the rhythm of the sexual act.

He takes it a step further by stating that in the flea they “yea more than married are” (2.1). It is one thing to note that a flea contains two individuals’ blood, but to say that this union is greater than marriage is very extreme. Yet Donne executes this unlikely comparison with the utmost confidence, creating a surprisingly poignant argument. When the speaker says “though parents grudge,” he acknowledges that the woman’s parents (and society in general) would show great disapproval for such behavior (2.5). However, he replies that they are “cloistered in these walls of jet” (2.6). He describes their blood as secluded within the flea to remind his lady that they are also far away from any condemning parents. When the lady threatens to kill the flea, the speaker shows his opposition when he states “And sacrilege, three sins in killing three” (2.9). Once again, it seems strange to jump to the defense of a bothersome insect, but when we consider the flea as two lovers and the chamber that houses them it becomes more rational.

but reading it from the angle of a biting flea, giving it a seedy -

Donne then introduces the image of the flea as their “marriage bed and marriage temple” (l.13). This emphasizes the intimate nature of the mingling of blood presented earlier. The flea is a place where the two lovers can have a marital relationship. Donne is suggesting that the mingling of their blood is affiliated to marriage. The conclusion that he would like his lover to come to is that if they can be considered married in the body of a flea, why can they not have that same relationship and all the physical aspects that go along with it in the real world.

    John Donne, a member of metaphysical school in the Seventeenth century, exhibited his brilliant talent in poetry. In "The Flea," he showed the passion to his mistress via persuasive attitude. The tone might straightforwardly create playfulness or sinfulness; yet, the poem contains none of either. What impress readers most is situation and device. The situation between the speaker and the audience is persuasion, love or marriage. As to device, the notable parts are diction and rhetoric skills. Furthermore, unique characteristics of this poem are also an important element of his persuasive tone.

“The Flea” by John Donne when looked at briefly is simply a poem about a man trying to seduce a woman into participating in pre-material sexual relationship with him. However, “The Flea” constructs many more important arguments than simply that one. The poem touches on religion, love, and sex in a non-romanticized way, contrasting the normal glamorized stance seen in most of poetry. Most of John Donne’s poems have either romantic themes or religious themes; “The Flea” has both. It is important to recognize that Donne was a 17th century preacher who converted from Catholicism to Protestantism (“John Donne.” Poetry Foundation). The struggle between lust and dedication to Christianity is not unfamiliar to Donne and is most

As the girl threatens to kill the flea, the speaker begs her to stop. He states that all three of their lives are in this flea, and that through the blood of the flea he and her are already married. If the girl were to kill the flea, he feels that it would be the equivalent of murdering all three of them. The speaker is desperately trying to manipulate the girls actions too his advantage. Donne uses more metaphors too twist his words into a more convincing argument.

Donne’s poetic verbiage is clearly seen from the very beginning, “How little that which thou deniest me is” (1.2). Confidently, Donne speaks is if the act of sex is as tiny as the size of the flea. Using the word, “dentist” is placed in the poem to initiate feelings of deprivation; denial of an act he is entitled to. Donne’s impeccable choice of words continue as he tells that their blood already lies together within the flea; equating

Lastly, he compares his heart to a piece of glass (mirror) by saying “those pieces still, through they be not unite; and now as broken glasses show a hundred lesser faces, so my rags of heart can like, wish, and adore, but after one such love, can love no more.'; In this quote Donne show us that his heart has been shattered into a thousand pieces and that they are still in the place where his heart should be. Donne can never repair his broken heart; therefore, he will live in pain until he dies. In the last line of this quote, Donne says that once you have loved someone that deeply you can never feel love like that again.

I shall now talk about how religion relates to Donne’s poetry. His life passed during a major change of religion in England the king wanted all control of the church so he could divorce his wife, he declared himself head of the Church of England. My first poem that relates to religion is ‘The Flea’ in this poem Donne is trying to convince a woman to sleep with him by using religion to sanctify him sleeping with her for example when he says ‘Where we almost, nay more, than married are…our marriage bed, and marriage temple is[2]’, he makes the bed seem holy and that g-d wants them to sleep together this may of reassured her as it connects g-d and the church together to make everything alright and holy . This poem proves that Donne is a very

We can therefore ask ourselves how John Donne J.D uses the flea methaphore in this love poem ?