The+Flea

Luke:

The Flea: The most famous use of Metaphysical conceit by John Donne, it tells the story of how a man is trying to convince the woman to have sex with him. he does so through appealing through religious views, tone, and sexual imagery.

FIrst stanza: MARK but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is ; It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. 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 ! is more than we would do.

Throughout the poem, there is a rhythmic pulse, maintained by the structure of the stanzas and the use of assonance, or the use of sounds in the poem. For example, the "e" sound throughout the first part of the stanza, and then the "oo" sound in the last part. The diction used by the narrator is seductive, using that to describe certain aspects of sex, such as "suck'd".

O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea, more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, And cloister'd in these living walls of jet. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

He talks about killing the flea, in John's time, to die was often used as slang for reaching sex climax, furthering the sexual imagery. He appeals to her values and morals, in this stanza, he tries to make it seem like the act is religious. He also begs the woman not to kill the flea, for she has caught it, as to do so would kill the bond the flea represents, as their bloods have bonded in the flea, and to kill the flea would be to destroy all of that. this religious tactic is taken further when he depicts the flea as the "marriage bed, and marriage temple is". "O stay, three lives in one flea spare" --he's making himself off as the Holy Trinity. If this act is blessed by God, it would be an aberration to go against that.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now. 'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ; Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

"cruel and sudden" -- she has killed the flea, and now, he can't eccentuate the flea into an argument. So, he switches his argument around. He returns to the idea that the flea's pettiness is reflective of how insignificant sex is. He's expanding on the fact the fact that sex is insignificant, and she can't give him a most insignificant thing. "Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee." - the woman killing the flea was not important, so she'll lose the same amount of honour from killing the flea as she will by sleeping with him. There was no loss in killing the flea.

He is very persuasive, and uses important rhetoric, but the woman is dominant throughout the poem, because she still refuses to have sex with him, even killing the flea to maintain her honour.