Circa 1600

MARK but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is ;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ;
    Yet this enjoys before it woo,
    And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ;
    And this, alas ! is more than we would do.

O 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're met,
And cloister'd 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 suck'd from thee?
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou
Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now.
'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ;
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee

Circa 2006

Look here, at this flea, and realise how small a thing you’re denying me!
The flea sucked my blood, then yours
And in it? Our bloods are mixed!
And you really can’t say that it’s a sin or a shame or a loss of your virginity.
And the flea? It enjoys this before it even has to charm you - It’s living in the lap of luxury, for our unity!
He gets to, but we don’t?

Wait – don’t kill it! Spare you, me, and our only unity.
For in the flea – we’re more than married,
we’re consummated!
So it is our consummation, and our vows.
Fine, so your parents aren’t to keen, and sure – you’re not either. But hold on! We’re together in this black flea.
So you want to kill our consummation?
You’re in there too – don’t kill yourself!
And killing three is three sins!Don’t defy god.

What? You killed it? Jesus – you harpy!
You’ve squashed it with your nail…
Why did the flea deserve it? It was innocent!
Except for that drop of blood, I mean.
Yet in killing it, you think that you find yourself, nor me, any weaker than we were before?
So these fears have been false. If you sleep with me, then you’ll lose no more honour than you lost with the death of the flea. So… how about it?