The Flea 'And John Donne's The Flea'

Texts are a product of their contexts, how true is this statement? To see how true it is, we need to look at the poets John Donne and William Wordsworth from the Metaphysical and Romanticism Eras respectively. The context of these different eras heavily impacts the poems written by the poets. This is done through the different values these two eras possess, for example, the belief of logic and rationalism in the Metaphysical period and the deep reverence for nature in the Romanticism Era.

The Metaphysical Era began during the 17th century in England. It was a very significant period for all forms of literature. It instigated much change for the style of writing of many poets during the time, including John Donne, one of the most prominent
In John Donne’s “The Flea”, the setting of the poem is swayed by the context of the era. In this poem, we are shown a flea, which becomes the basis for Donne’s entire argument. Even though he uses logic, the poets love is still rejected by his mistress who he is trying to woo. His arguments about logic and the exaggeration of the flea are both very clear influences of the Metaphysical Era. In the opening of the poem, Donne requests the woman “Mark but this flea”, which sucked the blood of his mistress as well as the person who is trying to persuade her. He continually elaborates that his mistress has disallowed something that the flea has acquired, this being the union of their bodily fluids. This central statement, that is frequently mentioned, demonstrates the value of rationalism, a feature poems of the Metaphysical Era have inside of them. Donne embellishes the value of the flea’s life by saying to his mistress that this flea represents their connection, and killing the flea will be killing them, “O stay, three lives in one flea spare, where we almost, yea, more than married are”. He says to his mistress that the flea also
This grand age of enlightenment brought upon change to many different forms of art, from poetic literature to poems and songs. The contexts of the poems written in this era were greatly influenced by the ideas and passions that came from the romantic perception of the world. This influenced the poets of this time, alongside their style of writing. Poets during this period, produced writings with an undertone of deep respect for nature, isolation and spiritualty. William Wordsworth was one of the most influential poets of this