Arianne2

The Flea is a metaphysical poem (first published posthumously in 1633) by John Donne (1572-1631). The exactBold text date of its composition is unknown.

Form

The poem is organized into three stanzas of nine lines each. The rhyme scheme is in couplets with the final line in each stanza rhyming with the final couplet. The rhyming pattern is as follows AABBCCDDD. The poem alternates metrically between lines in iambic tetrameter and lines in iambic pentameter, ending with two pentameter lines at the close of each stanza.

Content

The text is as follows:

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.

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.

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.

Commentary

The poem uses a conceit Donne uses a flea as a metaphor for the relationship between the speaker and his lover.

Within the flea is represented the trinity, representing the three persons of the godhead. The three persons of Godhead as conceived in orthodox Christian belief include the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The number three throughout the poem works as a symbol of “all in one.” The three anatomical sections; head, thorax, and abdomen of the flea should be noted as well.

References

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^[2]

^ Hunt, Clay (1954). Donne's Poetry: Essays in Literary Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
^ Abrams, N.H. (1993). The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc. p. 1081.

[1] Hunt, Clay (1954). Donne's Poetry: Essays in Literary Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press.

[2] Abrams, N.H. (1993). The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc. p. 1081.

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