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¶ … Flea
This paradoxical and provocative poem by John Donne illustrates a number of the central characteristics of Metaphysical poetry. This paper will attempt to elucidate the paradoxical elements of the poem through a close reading of the text. The poem is essentially argumentative and displays a number of conceits or paradoxical comparisons. The poet uses words and meanings in an unconventional and often startling sense to convince his lover to make love with him.
The poem compares the image of a flea to love and physical union. The entire poem is a sustained argument to convince the protagonist's lover of the validity of this comparison. The image of the flea is used to spur or encourage the loved one into agreeing to the unification of their blood through intercourse. It is also significant to note in this regard that during the Renaissance it was believed that in the act of coition blood was passed between the two people concerned.
The central argument is clearly stated in the first two lines of the poem. This argument will flow throughout the three stanzas. The poet or protagonist states empathically ("Mark") the central conceit of the poem in the comparison of the flea to his intended relationship with his lover.
MARK but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
Thee second line above points to the intent of the protagonist. He uses the idea of a "flea bite" to suggest that their making love will have little harmful or negative effect on his lover. This is intended to reassure and persuade his intended lover that the intended action of coitus is as natural and inconsequential as a flea bite. He is using the image and the meaning of the word 'flea' to convey another paradoxical...
The word "mingled" for example clearly refers to their act of love. At the same time and in an outwardly paradoxical sense the word "mingled" also refers to the combination of their blood in the body of the flea. Therefore, through the use of comparison, the poet conveys a sense of paradox that seems to be logical
His main device of argument is comparison and if the act of love can be compared to a flea bite then it follows logically that it cannot be of any shameful or sinful consequence. This is a perfect example of the use of rational argument to synthetically link disparate elements.
The logic of this conceit or comparison is expanded further in the second stanza. Here we see how the logic of the commingling of their blood through the flea used as a metaphor and rationale for their physical union.
This flea is you and I
This is a good example of paradox in that flea, through the intermingling of their blood, becomes both the two lovers. The protagonist is attempting to convince his prospective lover that it is absurd to deny their love-making. This argument and apparent paradox is continued in the lines
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.
Again the poet uses words to conflate opposites He uses the concept of the flea as a symbol of their…
The Holy Sonnet 'Death be not Proud' (Complete Poetry 283-4) seems to show Donne's mind grappling anew with the reality of death in the wake of his wife's demise. The form of the poem gives an impression of thinking aloud, as if the reader overhears the poet's thoughts as he engages directly with death in an attempt both to cut it down to size and to understand its true nature
John Donne's "The Canonization" begins relatively simply, as a familiar lyrical ode to his mistress. Gradually it deepens in meaning while approaching the final verses, where Donne reveals the true complexity of his vision of love. "The Canonization" is undoubtedly still a love poem; it revels in theatrical descriptions of the love he and his beloved share. But there are also many layers of meaning and irony behind the words
She is to remain quiet and calm, trusting the necessity and inevitability of the speaker's leaving. The second and third strong images in the poem concern the love connection between the couple. The poet uses gold as a metaphor for the pliability and expanding properties of the couple's love. When gold is beaten, it bends and expands; it does not break. In the same way, the love between the man
" (Lines 5-7) the metaphor of the poet being like a battered and invaded town that is impinged upon by outsiders yet still strives to let in the saving forces suggests both a medieval castle and the poet's divided alliances between the world (evil) and God (good). The second half of the poem creates further parallels the relationship of the poet to God. The next metaphor, after the castle, suggests that
The conceit or metaphor in extended though an image of the world or globe. The tears become the entire world which encompasses the speaker's life and feelings. So doth each tear, Which thee doth wear, globe, yea world, by that impression grow, (Lines 14-16) This comparison also leads to the insistence in the poem that without each other the two lovers in fact cease to exist and that their essential meaning is
The poem emotionally appealing and with such invigorating language, is easily translatable as a sermon. The reader could easily manipulate the tone of the poem with slight incensed articulation by accenting the poem as horrifying, delightful, spiritually persuasive or even amusing tone. Throughout the reading of this sonnet, despite its recognition towards God, the sonnet still mimics the consistency Donne always had in his poetry. Consider the plethora of