Their bloods mingle in the body of the flea as they mingle in the sex-act, despite the objections of her parents and her own objections. Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders. He then claims she will lose no more honor when she decides to sleep with him than she did when she killed the flea. Thus, the stress pattern in each of the nine-line stanzas is 454545455. Yet, the innocent creature was guilty of no other crime except that of the sucking of their respective bloods. Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas! The poem is witty, romantic, fascinating, and is one of the best poems of John Donne.
The speaker indicates that a tiny creature has made their blood unite and it is the same with an intercourse also. To prevent her from doing so, he starts to explain to her that the flea is carrying three souls inside it, him, her, and the flea. The woman claims triumph over the lover's argument, responding that neither she nor the man is weaker for her having killed the flea lines 23-24. He then tells the sun that his lover is above all kings; and beside him in bed are all the riches and gold that he could ever want. The insect has enjoyed their blood and it is neither a sin nor a shame, so he questions the idea of the beloved about her rejecting his advancements. The authors of these poems use different styles of writing love poetry. The Flea by John Donne: Summary and Analysis The Flea, composed by a great metaphysical poet John Donne, was first published posthumously in 1633.
Just as she has lost little life in the death of the flea which sucked her blood, so she will lose o honour in yielding herself to him. In this particular work, the blood taken from the couple symbolizes. He then asserts that she would lose no honor if she sleeps with him than she loses when she killed the flea. So, the greater mingling of their body sexual intercourse is also as holy as the flea. Excerpt:- Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? She attempts to kill the flea, but the speaker implores her to not to commit the act. Death Be Not Proud is the most famous poem of John Donne with its opening lines especially being extremely popular.
He then challenges the strength of the sun by saying that he could eclipse its rays with a wink. Besides, the flea pricked her and got what it wanted without having to woo her. That even in a ten-thousand-day journey, with age a man would come to his sensing, understanding the fantasy during reality that good women do not exist. He then asserts that she would lose no honor if she sleeps with him than she loses when she killed the flea. The speaker uses the occasion of a flea hopping from himself to a young lady as an excuse to argue that the two of them should make love. Audio Reading by Anniina Jokinen, ©2003.
The flea could take what it wanted without stopping to woo, but the lover uses no force beyond the force of argument. His first observation is the fact that the woman was not wooed by the flea , unlike what the speaker is trying to do. Analysis Donne here makes use of the wit for which he eventually became famous—although in his own day his poetry was often considered too lurid to gain popular notoriety, and little of it was published during his lifetime. Autoplay next video Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deny'st me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be; Thou knowest that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead. This will remain one of our best poems ever.
The poem ends with the revelation that the mystery woman has crushed the flea and the man's attempts at seduction. One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. He adds that such is the power of their love that it will see them canonised, or declared saints. The poem uses the of a , which has sucked blood from the male speaker and his female lover, to serve as an extended for the relationship between them. . The body of the flea is regarded as the temple of love in the second stanza.
She has also lost no honour in this way. Whatever dies, was not mixed equally; If our two loves be one, or, thou and I Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die. John Donne — The Flea — Summary The speaker curiously asks the woman to take notice of the flea and to consider about the act it has done. The exact date of its composition is unknown. The speaker of the poem is about to part from his beloved for a long duration and though he deeply loves her, he says they should not mourn their separation. This post is part of the series: John Donne Study Guide. In the opening of the poem, the speaker tries to convince his beloved to make love by stating that they have already been one in the body of a flea.
Form This poem alternates metrically between lines in iambic tetrameter and lines in iambic pentameter, a 4- 5 stress pattern ending with two pentameter lines at the end of each stanza. It is used to explain something usually complex in simple to understand terms, by making a comparison. He ends by saying that it is the duty of the sun to warm the world and, as it has warmed him and his lover, his duty is done as they are the world. His argument hinges on the belief that bodily fluids mix during sexual intercourse. To be able to understand poems, it is important to look at the physical parts, the intellectual parts, and how they shape the poem.
Phillip Hassoun English 1102 Dr. John Donne, a well known poet of that time period writes many poems about love, but none using all those tired, worn out cliches. Excerpt:- Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won Others to sin, and made my sin their door? He explains further in the end of the last stanza that the honor she lost in killing that flea, would be just as much honor lost if she were to engage in intercourse with him, since she obviously did not care about the death of the flea. Basic Conceit in The Flea In of his most renowned conceits, Donne compares the body of the flea to a temple and a marriage-bed. To him, the flea has done more than the man has been able to do with her.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captived, and proves weak or untrue. By giving the flea a dual meaning, Donne manages to tell a story that is both simple and complex. She should notice that first it sucked his blood and then hers and in this way their blood mingle in its body, as they do in sexual intercourse. In the second stanza, he holds the idea that the flea is their marriage bed and urges his lover not to kill it as she would be committing the crime of killing three: herself, himself, and the flea itself. Donne makes the writing look so easy that you hardly notice everything going on beneath the surface.