In life, people use things to show an emotional feel in certain state of affairss. In this given instance, that thing would be poesy. At times poesy has been proven to capture person ‘s feelings vastly. It does that by the right use of words, normally metaphorical words. A 27 line verse form can show to its readers a narrative and subject, where it would take a novel more work. In John Donne ‘s “ The Flea ” he uses a flea to typify sex between himself and his “ love ” . John negotiations about the mixture of their blood to convey his message. As the verse form is farther read, the lady he refers to turn an apprehension of what he wants.

This verse form is non like many because it does non hold an even sum of lines. In fact, it has 27 lines as referred earlier. The metrical strategy goes from iambic tetrameter to iambic pentameter. Lines are split into a group of four so five, so four and so on. The rhyme strategy used in each stanza is fundamentally the same. They rhyme AABBCCDDD. There is no uncertainty that each specific item does non assist with the verse forms feel and your apprehension of it. The poet uses imagination to assist with the complexness of the verse form.

The first quatrain started the look of his feelings for his “ love ” and what he wanted to make with her. It was non established if he loved the adult female or non, but his “ love ” will be used in representation of the adult female. The poet began by him stating “ Mark this flea… ” which merely

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Meant, allow ‘s get down by utilizing the flea. In the 2nd line, “ How small that which 1000 deny’st me is ” , he expresses how minuscular what she denies him is in comparing to the flea. His “ love ” does n’t care for what he wants as to why she denies him. The poet attempts really hard to demo the adult female she needs to buoy up up. “ It sucked me foremost, and now sucks thee ; And in this flea our two bloods mingled be ” ( 3-4 ) . The poet gets excited by the idea of his and the adult female ‘s blood coming together. Their bloods mingled like milk and java.

In the following quatrain, lines 5-9, we are no longer unmindful to what the poet is denied of, sex. “ Thou know’st that this can non be said ; A wickedness, nor shame, nor loss of hymen ” ( 5-6 ) . He makes a comparing to the commixture of their blood. He says, no 1 would believe the commixture of blood inside the flea to be a wickedness or black. Mainhead means virginity, the adult female is non a virgin but as losing your virginity means losing your artlessness, the adult female would lose her artlessness by holding sex with him. He so uses this as a metaphor for the commixture of their bodily fluids. So, merely he ‘s stating if they had sex no 1 would see it to be black. “ Yet this enjoys before it woo ; And featherbed ‘d swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas! is more than we would make ” ( 7-9 ) . The poet wrangles that the flea gets to bask her but he does n’t. In a manner it is implied that he is covetous of the flea. The poet utilizations good imagination so that the adult female would acquire a good sense of what the flea was making.

Continuing to the following quatrain, lines 10-13, the poet references matrimony. “ O stay, three lives in one flea spare ; Where we about, yea, more than married are ” ( 10-11 ) . It is believed that the adult female wanted to kill the flea. The poet wanted his “ love ” to save the life of the flea because it represented their matrimony. This is where it is realized that the two were non married. “ This flea

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is you and I, and this ; Our matrimony bed, and matrimony temple is ” ( 12-13 ) . The flea contained both of their blood ; it was a temple in which their matrimony was constructed. In a manner, this has a spiritual feel because to Christians, the organic structure is a temple and the representation of God.

In this quatrain, the history of the two was explained, lines 14-18. “ Though parents score, and you, we ‘re met ; And cloister ‘d in these populating walls of jet ” ( 14-16 ) . “ Though use do you apt to kill me ; Let non to that self-murder added be ; And sacrilege, three wickednesss in killing three ” ( 14-18 ) . The adult female ‘s parents do non O.K. of her and the poet being together. Not merely do the parents non desire them to be together, the adult female has uncertainties. The adult female is non excessively affectionate of him, which he says would take to her desiring to kill him. Normally we kill bugs with no job, but in this instance, the adult female would be perpetrating three wickednesss. The wickednesss slaying, self-destruction and profanation. Sacrilege would be her disrespecting their religion.

In the 2nd to last quatrain, lines 19-22, the adult female killed the flea. All three act of wickedness were committed. “ Cruel and sudden, hast 1000 since ; Purpled thy nail in blood of artlessness? ” ( 19-20 ) The poet calls what the adult female has done cruel and hasty. She killed an guiltless thing. The flea has died but still it does n’t look anything terrible has happened. Lone thing would be the staining of her fingers purple. Wherein could this flea guilty be ; Except in that bead which it suck ‘d from thee? ” ( 21-22 ) The poet goes into item on the fact that the flea was guiltless. The inquiry on how the flea was guilty was asked.

The concluding quatrain, the adult female has won against the flea and feels she has won against the poet ‘s supplication. “ Yet thou triumph’st, and say’st that 1000 ; Find’st non thyself nor me the weaker now ” ( 23-24 ) . The poet said antecedently if the adult female killed the flea it would be killing

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both of them. Bing that the adult female has done so and nil changed in mention to her strength, his supplication seems to hold been a spot of “ bull ” . “ ‘T is true ; so larn how false frights be ; Just so much honor, when 1000 yield’st to me ; Will waste, as this flea ‘s decease took life from thee ” ( 25-27 ) . Even though he says that his statement was bull, he states it was a portion of the program. He tries to state that holding sex with him would non be such of a bad thing. He hopes she realizes that she would lose as much regard if she had sex with him as she lost strength killing the flea, none. Sadly the verse form comes to a arrest, the terminal, so we can non happen out what the adult female decided. It is now left to our imaginativeness to complete.

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Work Cited

Donne, John. “ The Flea. ” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th erectile dysfunction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin ‘s, 2012. 1038. Print.

Bostwick, Rose. Essay on John Donne ‘s: “ Death Be Not Proud. ” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th erectile dysfunction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin ‘s, 2012. 813. Print.

Shmoop Editorial Team. “ The Flea Analysis ” . Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.