The Flea By John Donne

On the surface, John Donne’s poem “The Flea” dramatizes the conflict between two people on the issue of premarital sex, however, under the surface, the poem uses religious imagery to seduce the woman into having sex. The speaker in this poem is a man, who is strategically trying to convince a woman to have premarital sex with him through the conceit based on a flea, however, the coy lady has thus far yielded to his lustful desires. The speaker’s argument has the form of logic, which contradicts to its outrageous content.

     In the poem “The Flea” by John Donne, the speaker uses clever sexual innuendo and metaphors in an attempt to manipulate a certain girl into losing her virginity to him. The poem begins with the speaker explaining that a flea has bit both him and her, and now both of

be seen by the way he uses words like “Had we” and “we would”. This is

The words in the poem that surround what will happen if they don’t have sex are that she will be eaten by the worms and they will ultimately try to take her “virginity” while he holds the idea of her remaining a virgin forever in disdain, but on the other hand there will be repercussions for him as well, in the sense that all his sexual fantasies, desires, and wants will burn up, “And into ashes my lust” (Line 30). In the poem “The Flea” by John Donne has powerful imagery in it as well, such as the blood representing life experiences in and of itself, but in the story when it says “It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, /And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;” is basically telling us that a flea had bitten and drawn blood from the male and female and that these two bloods have intermingled, so in the speakers convincing argument to the woman was that their bloods are intermingled, thus persuading the woman that they are as one now as the poem states “This flea is you and I, and this/Our marriage bed”(Lines12-13) and should become sexually involved with each other since they are “married” within the flea. Therefore, the two poems contain vivid sexually charged imagery.

As in the other stanzas, this arranges its four supporting arguments into three couplets and a triplet by rhyme. However, whereas the first stanza loosely held the ideas to couplets, the second shows more organization in thought. This further structure is necessary to support the conceit of the flea as a holy church. The support for this idea is arranged into the following four sub-argument: one, do not kill the flea, because we have conceived within it; two, thus, the flea is like a “marriage bed,” and by extension, a “marriage temple”; three, despite your parents’ and your concerns, that’s the way it is; and four, if you kill the flea, you commit three sins – killing me, killing yourself, and sacrilege by violating the sanctity of the marriage temple. Note that Donne does present an argument to seduce his beloved in this stanza. His words are filled solely with reverence and concern for the flea. Through this, we can see the earnestness and seriousness of the passion he has for his beloved: the sanctity of their relationship – even their surrogate relationship within the flea – is sacred to him.

He uses the flea as an excuse for marriage and that they are now permitted to have sex. Out of desperation Donne shifts to a more religiously point of view by saying, “And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.” (Line 18) This means that if the woman kills the flea, she is killing the flea, him, herself, and God. However, the women squashes the flea along with his argument and Donne is left with one final go at convincing the woman. The final stanza of the poem expresses his sheer desperation to have sex with the woman as he deviates to using a lenient approach. He blames her not for killing the flea, but says that her act did not damage her honour in any way, and that she should still “yeeld’st to mee” (Line 26), or should still sleep with him. The content of The Flea demonstrates the exact sexist attitude that John Donne possessed when he wrote his early love poems. Likewise, the same desire for physical pleasure can be seen in the poem The Sunne Rising. This poem encompasses Donne’s ignorance of his surroundings and his obsession for sexual pleasure. Throughout the poem he attacks and challenges the sun with contempt, and does so by personifying it. He is obviously disturbed and troubled by the “unruly Sunne” (Line 1) and tells

Following a unique poetic language of the Renaissance, John Donne's ‘The Flea' is a poem illustrating the metaphor of a flea to represent the sexual act and relations between a man and woman. Portrayed through language, imagery, and structure John Donne's poem is one of conceit and seduction, as the speaker (assumed to be a man) follows a consistent pattern of persuasion to have premarital sex with a woman.

John Donne’s persuasive poem “The Flea” was written in 1633. Through the use of symbols, the poet attempt to convey a deep message. The poet attempts to convince a woman into having sex without outside of marriage, he is rejected on many counts. Donne attempts conveys his theme of desire through sexual innuendo with the utilization of symbolism of metaphors and diction.

Love can be quite a difficult topic to write about, expressing one’s intimate and innermost emotions requires a great level of dedication and honesty. If done correctly, the outcome is truly stunning. John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and Katherine Philips’s “To Mrs. M.A. at Parting” are two masterpieces of this genre. These poems depict the concept of true love so meticulously that the reader cannot help but envy the relationships presented. Perhaps the reason that these works are so effective is due to the fact that they are incredibly similar to each other. Although some differences are present when it comes to structure and gender concerns, the poems share the same theme of love on a spiritual level and show many parallels in meaning.

In the final stanza the woman kills the flea. Unsurprisingly, the very dramatic Donne labels the death as “cruel and sudden” (3.1). He goes on to say that she has “purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence” (3.2). What he means by this is that the flea has done nothing more than suck her blood, yet she has ended its life. Since the mingling of blood is representative of sex, it implies that the act of sex is

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.

In the second stanza, Donne goes on to make the point that the flea is

By using metaphysical conceits in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," Donne attempts to convince his love (presumably his wife) that parting is a positive experience which should not be looked upon with sadness. In the first stanza, Donne compares

The central theme, introduced quite early within the poem, is the helplessness of death. Throughout the poem the speaker belittles death and approaches it with such bravery and poise. Donne confronts death by saying it is not in any regard “mighty and dreadful” (2), but rather brings “much pleasure” (7). Death is personified in the poem, and in this regard, possess no greater power over man. The speaker of the poem is Donne himself. He uses his literary tools of rhetoric and poetic devices to belittle death. Throughout the poem, the speaker comes across as being slightly arrogant, but he refuses to show weakness. His arrogance shows that he is not afraid of death as he demands death not to be proud. Donne takes the association of death and sleep, and reinvents this comparison to a greater effect. He describes sleep as being “pictures” (5) of death and death is no more different or more frightening. He extends this metaphor throughout the poem. In the second last line of the poem he

Love and loyalty were popular themes that underpinned the most articulate and significant poems in 17th century. (Bartleby, 2015) Good morning members of the Tablelands Poetry Society Forum and thank you for granting me the opportunity to express my interest and understanding of the famous poem, ‘A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning’ written by John Donne. Donne was one of the most famous and influential 17th Century English metaphysical poets. Metaphysical poetry was admired in the 17th century; this non-affiliated group of poets had the use of abstract and unique comparisons with in their poems, compelling their readers. (Spark notes, 2015) A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning, is based on Donne’s love towards his wife. Throughout the poem Donne has utilized a combination of poetic devices, foregrounding the profound love he has for his wife. This was expressed through abstract comparisons which was significant to the metaphysical era. Donne has effectively positioned today’s contemporary society to understand that true love can withstand long distances.