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.
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered, swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.
Oh 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 are met
And cloistered 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 sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph'st, and sayest that thou
Find'st not thyself, nor me, the weaker now.
'Tis true, then learn how false fears be;
Just so much honor, when thou yieldst to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.
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I just had to write an english Lit paper on this poem- it was the only question i think i did well in. Haha! this poem does intice the reader- thank god he didnt actually use it for suduction though, he would have only recived a slap i imagian, although im sure it served its purpouse when reading it to his peers to prove his wit.
hard to imagian that he was actualy a member of the church eh? -
I like how he compares the flea sucking the blood of the man and woman, to the act of conception. And the two bloods inside the flea were actually making a baby. This reasoning comes from the 17th century thinking that during sex there was a blood transfer that happened.
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I think that it is amazing the way Donne can adapt his arguement in the way he does here, and how he is able to use the fact that the woman squished the flea to his advantage! Donne is ace!!
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This is one of my favorite poems by Donne. I just love it.
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Hello Hana,
The Flea, is believed to have been written circa 1598 (16th century ), but did not appear in published form until 1601 (17th century ) in his collection, 'Songs and Sonnets'.
Hope this helps.
Andrew, OldPoetryTeam -
When was this poem 'the flea' written 16 or 17th centruy any help would be aprrecaited.
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