When one thinks about a flea, an array of images and ideas come to mind. Some might reminisce on a childhood pet, while for others a flea may evoke thoughts of something more sinister, such as widespread disease; however, one topic that is presumably not at the top of the average person’s list of subjects immediately linked to fleas is premarital sex between two young lovers. Although by conventional standards a flea is worlds away from being a romantic metaphor for consummating a relationship, it is exactly the symbol that John Donne chooses to use in this poem. Through the use of literary symbolism, metaphors, and imagery centered on something as seemingly irrelevant to his underlying meaning as a flea, “The Flea” portrays a desperate, albeit clever, young man formulating a cunning argument to convince his beloved to sleep with him.
Although there are a number of points in this poem where one could be tricked into thinking that this poem is simply about a flea, the first two lines clearly reveal that the speaker has an ulterior motive behind what could otherwise be perceived as a simple, somewhat impractical argument. Donne makes it clear that the flea is a complex metaphor for what he is truly concerned with, and it is certainly not a measly flea. The phrase “mark…this” or “mark in this” in the first line is the speaker’s way of telling the person whom he addresses to take for example the flea and realize the lesson they can learn from it. When he says, “Mark but this flea,” Donne highlights the flea’s insignificance by using the word “but” to mean something along the lines of only a flea (Donne 1038). The second line further enforces the idea that flea is of little consequence; however, this line also reveals what the speaker’...
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...me and meter that further enforce his main point. By the end of this intricate poem, a flea has somehow become a logical romantic symbol, and comparing a flea to premarital sex does not seem quite as outlandish as it did to start. The speaker’s convincing, albeit unconventional, argument has come full circle from labeling the flea as something insignificant in the first stanza to portraying it as sacred in the second stanza, only to knock the flea back down to size in the final couplet to show that even things that may seem sacred really are not. Although Donne does not tell the reader how the girl responds to the speaker’s clever argument, even if he is rejected it will not be for lack of trying.
Works Cited
Donne, John. “The Flea.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.
9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2012. 1038-1039. Print.
Using this choice of words like “then worms shall try” and “…turn to dust”, the speaker essentially tells his mistress that there will be consequences if she does not engage with him. He believes his wit will gain control over his mistress, and her “coyness” will inevitably disappear. In his mind, the repercussions are if she dies without having sex with him, the worms will take her virginity, which can be considered as phallic imagery. In the lines, the worms symbolically mirror the narrator’s male sexual organ. Marvell creates an interesting approach with this daring and disturbing language because the appealing strategy grasps the reader’s attention and explores the question of the extent a person will go to fulfill their sexual desires. While discussing this proposed tight-lipped subject, the tone of the narrator in “To His Coy Mistress” greatly differs from the narrator’s tone in “A Rose for Emily.” The readers can perceive that Marvell’s speaker is intelligent and informed in the sexual category because of his style and word choice. He creates a relaxed tone with his audience, which makes the readers feel comfortable, and he is very clear about what he writes. The direction of the arguments he makes is very undeviating because he goes straight into what he wants
In line 5, “The mouse and which once hath broken out of trap, Is seldom ‘ticed with the trustless bait” shows the reader what the speaker sees of himself. The speaker is to afraid that if he is tempted it could lead into a huge trap. On lines 9 and 10, “The scorched fly which once hath ‘scaped the flame, Will hardly come to lay again with fire” the speaker is describing that he doesn't want to get burned by a woman of such beauty. Each metaphor give a tone of fear and despair of not being able to get what you truly
During the 17th century, certain poets wrote poems with the specific purpose of persuading a woman to have sexual intercourse with them. Three of these seduction poems utilize several strategies to do this: Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” and Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning” and “The Flea.” Some of the reasoning used by both poets is similar to the reasoning used today by men to convince women to have sexual intercourse with them. These gimmicks vary from poem to poem but coincide with modern day rationalization. The tactics used in 17th century seduction poems are relevant and similar to the seduction tactics used in the 21st century.
The poem immediately establishes a controlling metaphor comparing the book to a child, illustrating the speaker's inherent attachment to her work while also describing her irritation towards it. Establishing the metaphor by using terms such as "offspring" and "birth", the speaker shows that she is attached to her work, as a mother is to an infant child. (1-2) However, she simultaneously establishes that while the child is imperfect, so is she, calling her mind "feeble." (1) It is this duality of both the mother and the child having flaws that drives the speaker's sentiment of attachment to her work: as a depiction of her thoughts, it is a piece of her, and a flaw in it reflects a flaw in her.
of the poem, the girl is going to need quite a lot of persuading. This
At the threat of demise, the speaker states “This flea is you and I, and this/Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is” (12-13). A union is created and through the three of them, it is seen as a correlation to the holy trinity with God being replaced by the flea. Even though the woman does not seem inclined to spare the flea, Donne furthers his argument with the mixing of their blood allowing for an unmistakable union without societal norms or scandal. Since the flea can hop from one host to the other without commitment, so can we have a little romp in the hay without the pressures of marriage and life ever after. Through the third stanza, we find that the woman has killed the flea and therefore quelled any chance of a sexual union between the speaker and his quarry. He has failed once again to gain her favor and seal the deal. While the flea may have been able to take her blood without seduction, the speaker finds excitement in the challenge to live and woo another day.
John Donne's, "The Flea," is a persuasive poem in which the speaker is attempting to establish a sexual union with his significant other. However, based on the woman's rejection, the speaker twists his argument, making that which he requests seem insignificant. John Donne brings out and shapes this meaning through his collaborative use of conceit, rhythm, and rhyme scheme. In the beginning, Donne uses the flea as a conceit, to represent a sexual union with his significant other. For instance, in the first stanza a flea bites the speaker and woman. He responds to this incident by saying, "And in this flea our bloods mingled be."
The author, John Donne, had a distinct amorous and philosophical style in his literary work characterizing love as religion. Donne was born in a religious Roman Catholic home, which influenced his decision to be ordained as a deacon and priest in his adult life. In his amorous tone, Donne often uses metaphors and imagery to describe and display his love for someone or something. Metaphors and imagery are one of the central figurative languages used by Donne when characterizing his love as a religion that bewilders him in how for every good deed he’s done, the woman won’t return the favor. The metaphors and imagery used to characterize an intangible thing contribute to the theme of how love pertains to our lives just like religion
Love and religion are two of the most common topics of poetry. Many of Donne’s poems are on one of these two very different topics, his works are connected through the continuous use of devices such as allusion, metaphor, and pun; providing a bond for each poem, yet a different context for each one. “The Flea,” “Holy Sonnet VII,” and “A Hymn to God the Father” each have distinct themes, but find common ground by the use of common literary devices. “The Flea” is a carnal poem where the speaker tries to convince his lover to be inclined to him. “Holy Sonnet VII” and “A Hymn to God the Father” are religious poems that address apocalyptic visions and serve as a remembrance to God respectfully, while attending to mention the act of pardoning the speaker’s formerly committed wrongdoings
In the first stanza, Donne uses extended metaphors to get his point across about the flea. The first stanza speaks of how the writer and the woman become one after being bitten by the flea. This stanza begins with “Mark but this flea, and mark in this,” punish the flea, and punish only the flea. “How little that which thou deniest me is,” she denies his sexual advances which means little to her. “It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be,” the flea bites them both causing their blood to mix together inside the flea. The mixing of the blood cannot be a sin, or shame, or lose of virginity therefore; neither should it be for their other bodily to mix together, “A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead.”
The two poems The Flea and The Sunne Rising capture John Donne’s primary motive to get in bed with women. Donne wrote these poems at an early age, and at that time he was seeking nothing more than a sexual relationship. His poetry depicted clearly how sexist he was at the time and how he used to perceive women as a medium of pleasure. The content of his early poems express an immature and desperate image of Donne, who is dominated by his fixation on the sensuality of women. In The Flea, Donne shows his desperation to have sex by addressing a flea that has sucked the blood of both him and the woman he is persuading. It is quite awkward how the poet uses this obscure image of the flea as a symbol of love and sex to convince the woman that...
The Flea and To His Coy Mistress are two poems written by poets living during the Renaissance Period. To His Coy Mistress was written by Andrew Marvell and The Flea was written by John Donne. Both of these poets were well-educated 'metaphysical poets', and these poems illustrate metaphysical concerns, highly abstract and theoretical ideas, that the poets would have been interested in. Both poems are based around the same idea of trying to reason with a 'mistress' as to why they should give up their virginity to the poet.
This poem is full of visual imagery; one can imagine being the speaker, staring at the fish on the hook. The fish’s brown skin, shapes on his scales, the tiny white sea-lice, the green weed, the blood flowing from his gills, his entrails, and his pink bladder all describing the fish’s body. This allows the reader to imagine as if the fish was in their hands. She not only illustrates the fish as a whole but also ge...
Love in "To His Coy Mistress", "Shall I Compare Thee," "Let Me Not," and "The Flea"
Donne uses the flea throughout his poem as an essential link between sexual conquest and union. The flea transcends its initial existence as an irritating bug and become an existence essential to their union. It is through this representation of the flea, which allows Donne to draw the reader into an argument of carnal desire trumping propriety. The flea is essential to this argument, without which there is nothing grounding the obvious leaps of logic made by the speaker and Donne. The conceit is a popular literary device Donne uses in his poetry, and in this particular case he uses it masterfully throughout the entire poem to create a love poem that straddles the line between poetry and rhetoric.