John Donne's The Flea
Hazel E. Whetstone
John Donne’s “The Flea”
John Donne’s famous poem “The Flea” is certainly one of the most memorable and effective poems ever written. Few readers who encounter this poem are ever likely to forget it. Many factors help to give this poem a powerful, lasting impression, including numerous devices of style and multiple themes and ideas. These unforgettable features appear in every single stanza of the poem.
[S] One technique that makes the first stanza effective is the way it grabs our attention.
[I] For example, Donne begins by using the command “Mark” (l. 1).
[E] This word grabs our attention because it is monosyllabic, it is heavily accented, and it sounds like a spontaneous demand.
[L] However,
[S] a second factor …show more content…
that helps make this stanza memorable is its use of grotesque imagery – imagery that is unpleasant or even disgusting.
[I] For instance, probably the most grotesque image in the poem is the flea itself.
[E] Fleas are viewed as disgusting because they are disease-ridden parasites that suck the blood of living organisms.
[L] Furthermore,
[S] a third effective feature of this stanza is its highly dramatic tone.
[I] This trait is evident in numerous words in the opening stanza, including “Mark” (l. 1), “thou” (l. 2), “thee” (l. 3), “our” (l. 4), and “we” (l. 9).
[E] All these words imply conversation between two different people within the poem. Each one of these traits helps make the opening stanza effective.
[S] The second stanza is efficient because it continues to draw the reader’s attention to the plight of the frustrated lover. [I] One example of Donne’s efficiency in the second stanza is the continued use of commands words or phrases like “Oh stay” (l.10).
[E] The use of this phrase not only demands that the reader pay attention to the topic at hand but keeps the flow of the poem …show more content…
consistent.
[L] Secondly,
[S] the comparison of the union of their blood, “three lives in one flea spare” (l. 10) to the union of marriage is another use of grotesque imagery that borders on sacrilege.
[I] Fleas are parasitic creatures that feed off other living animals to survive.
The mixing of blood in a flea compared to the union of marriage visually makes the thought repulsive.
[E] Donne wants the reader to be able to understand how the lover sees the image of marriage to his lover.
[L] Moreover,
[S] the talk of “self-murder” (l. 17) enforces the sacrilegious tone of the second stanza that shows the dramatic tone of the author.
[I] Religious imagery in this stanza shows the authors’ knowledge of religion and the role it plays in the life of the lovers of this poem.
[E] Donne’s talk of self-murder and mixing of blood shows the perception of the lover’s plight for sexual gratification.
[L] Lastly,
[S] the last stanza shows the reason this poem is one of the most effective ever written because it brings the entire poem to a final conclusion in dramatic fashion.
[I] Donne’s use of imagery from the Crucifixion “purpled thy nail in blood” (l.20) to compare the flea’s purported crime of biting them is dramatic.
[E] The comparison of the crime of the flea to the Crucifixion is a dramatic visual image for the reader looking at the alleged crimes of both the flea and Jesus
Christ.
[L] In addition,
[S] the last stanza also shows the lover’s change in tone from pleading to contentious.
[I] The lover is reprimanding his lover for killing the flea, “wherein could this flea guilty be/ except in that drop which it sucked from thee?” (l.21-22).
[E] He is now countering that she is not as righteous as she claims to be since she killed the flea only for a drop of her blood that was not life-threatening. “Tis true; then learn how false fears be/Just so much honor, when thou yieldst to me,” (l.25-26).
[L] The lover assumes that she should feel the same way about having sex with him as she did about killing the flea: no remorse.
The lover ends this poem by trying to use reverse psychology to achieve his ultimate goal of having sex with his lover. In this respect, John Donne’s poem is effective in grabbing and keeping the reader’s attention because of his successful use of tone, imagery, and word placement. His use of varying techniques keep the reader engrossed while not losing the meaning of the poem.
John Donne’s “The Flea”
John Donne’s famous poem “The Flea” is certainly one of the most memorable and effective poems ever written. Few readers who encounter this poem are ever likely to forget it. Many factors help to give this poem a powerful, lasting impression, including numerous devices of style and multiple themes and ideas. These unforgettable features appear in every single stanza of the poem.
[S] One technique that makes the first stanza effective is the way it grabs our attention.
[I] For example, Donne begins by using the command “Mark” (l. 1).
[E] This word grabs our attention because it is monosyllabic, it is heavily accented, and it sounds like a spontaneous demand.
[L] However,
[S] a second factor …show more content…
that helps make this stanza memorable is its use of grotesque imagery – imagery that is unpleasant or even disgusting.
[I] For instance, probably the most grotesque image in the poem is the flea itself.
[E] Fleas are viewed as disgusting because they are disease-ridden parasites that suck the blood of living organisms.
[L] Furthermore,
[S] a third effective feature of this stanza is its highly dramatic tone.
[I] This trait is evident in numerous words in the opening stanza, including “Mark” (l. 1), “thou” (l. 2), “thee” (l. 3), “our” (l. 4), and “we” (l. 9).
[E] All these words imply conversation between two different people within the poem. Each one of these traits helps make the opening stanza effective.
[S] The second stanza is efficient because it continues to draw the reader’s attention to the plight of the frustrated lover. [I] One example of Donne’s efficiency in the second stanza is the continued use of commands words or phrases like “Oh stay” (l.10).
[E] The use of this phrase not only demands that the reader pay attention to the topic at hand but keeps the flow of the poem …show more content…
consistent.
[L] Secondly,
[S] the comparison of the union of their blood, “three lives in one flea spare” (l. 10) to the union of marriage is another use of grotesque imagery that borders on sacrilege.
[I] Fleas are parasitic creatures that feed off other living animals to survive.
The mixing of blood in a flea compared to the union of marriage visually makes the thought repulsive.
[E] Donne wants the reader to be able to understand how the lover sees the image of marriage to his lover.
[L] Moreover,
[S] the talk of “self-murder” (l. 17) enforces the sacrilegious tone of the second stanza that shows the dramatic tone of the author.
[I] Religious imagery in this stanza shows the authors’ knowledge of religion and the role it plays in the life of the lovers of this poem.
[E] Donne’s talk of self-murder and mixing of blood shows the perception of the lover’s plight for sexual gratification.
[L] Lastly,
[S] the last stanza shows the reason this poem is one of the most effective ever written because it brings the entire poem to a final conclusion in dramatic fashion.
[I] Donne’s use of imagery from the Crucifixion “purpled thy nail in blood” (l.20) to compare the flea’s purported crime of biting them is dramatic.
[E] The comparison of the crime of the flea to the Crucifixion is a dramatic visual image for the reader looking at the alleged crimes of both the flea and Jesus
Christ.
[L] In addition,
[S] the last stanza also shows the lover’s change in tone from pleading to contentious.
[I] The lover is reprimanding his lover for killing the flea, “wherein could this flea guilty be/ except in that drop which it sucked from thee?” (l.21-22).
[E] He is now countering that she is not as righteous as she claims to be since she killed the flea only for a drop of her blood that was not life-threatening. “Tis true; then learn how false fears be/Just so much honor, when thou yieldst to me,” (l.25-26).
[L] The lover assumes that she should feel the same way about having sex with him as she did about killing the flea: no remorse.
The lover ends this poem by trying to use reverse psychology to achieve his ultimate goal of having sex with his lover. In this respect, John Donne’s poem is effective in grabbing and keeping the reader’s attention because of his successful use of tone, imagery, and word placement. His use of varying techniques keep the reader engrossed while not losing the meaning of the poem.