Metaphysical Love Poetry: John Donne

John Donne, born in the 16th century and considered one of the founders of the metaphysical poetry movement, remains one of the most well known and successful poets of his time. Donne was a very religious man, and his “relationship with religion was tumultuous and passionate, and at the center of much of his poetry”1. Although he was known primarily for this type of poetry, Donne applied this same passion to other aspects of his life, and as such is considered to have written some of the most beautiful love poetry of his time. As a metaphysical poet, he was known for his “ability to startle the reader and coax new perspective through paradoxical images, subtle argument, inventive syntax, and imagery from art, philosophy, and religion using an extended metaphor”2. Donne’s poem, ‘The Flea’, is not only an example of one of his lesser recognized love poems, but also an excellent example of metaphysical poetry at its finest.

Metaphysical poetry is, described in the simplest form, poetry in which two things that have seemingly nothing in common are used as metaphors, and the flea in Donne’s poem, used as a metaphor, is a perfect example of this kind of comparison. While a flea is not something most people would normally equate with sex, “fleas were a popular subject for jocose [humorous] and amatory [love] poetry in all countries at the Renaissance” 3. The comparison, or conceit as the metaphysical poets called it, is that a flea bite is like sex; it was believed at the time that sex involved the mingling of blood of the two participants. Donne cleverly says that since the flea has bitten the two people in the poem, and their blood has been mixed, within its stomach, thus sex has already taken place 4. While this comparison initially seems far fetched, and even implausible, upon closer examination, it makes perfect sense, and indeed ‘coaxes new perspective’, just as the metaphysical poets aimed to do with their works.

In “The Flea”, the speaker of the poem is laying in bed with a woman, trying to get her to give her virginity to him. As stated before, the mixing of a man and woman’s blood was one thing believed to happen during sex, and so therefore the speaker argues that since their blood is mixed within the flea, who has bitten both of them, it is essentially the same thing as having sex: “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”5. The speaker is attempting to convince the woman that by physically having sex with him, she will be simply be completing what has already spiritually happened and that the ‘little that which [she] deniest’ is just that: the last, small step needed to complete the act which has begun in the flea’s belly. He argues that it would not even be a real sin, since “thou know'st that this cannot be said, a sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead” 6; since the flea has already bitten them, she would not really be losing her virginity, and therefore it would not be a sinful or wrong. The speaker even argues that they are essentially married now, since one characteristic of marriage is the unification of flesh, and since “three lives in one flea spare, where we almost, yea, more than married are” 7, sex would not be considered immoral. The speaker continues making his case, stating that “this flea is you and I, and this, our marriage bed, and marriage temple is” 8; by calling their bed a ‘marriage bed’, the speaker is almost implying that it would be more unusual for them to not have sex, for in Donne’s time one of the important aspects of marriage was procreation. While it is clear that in this poem, the speaker’s main interest is not procreation, but gratification, he is clearly doing anything in his power to convince the woman to see likewise. His main point of reasoning, once again, is that since their blood has already been mixed, they might as well go through with it: “And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two; and this, alas! is more than we would do” 9

At the end of the second stanza, as well as the beginning of the third, we begin to see how the woman in this poem is reacting to the speaker’s pleas. She attempts to kill the flea, almost as if by killing it, she will be re-affirming her own chastity, for their blood will no longer be mixed. The speaker urges her not to, saying “Let not to that self-murder added be, and sacrilege, three sins in killing three” 10; not only would she be killing the flea, but also she would be destroying their lifeblood, and their unification contained within the flea. It is important to note here that although it is clear that the speaker is serious in his intentions, the reader can view this poem as written in a teasing, almost flirtatious tone, rather than completely serious. After the woman kills the flea, the speaker realizes that he must change tactics, since his first attempt obviously did not work. He seems to now be trying to convince the woman that since killing the flea was so easily done then giving in to him would be easy as well. The speaker seems to want her to forget what he said about the flea before, but now to believe that the only harm it had paid her was to bite her: “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?”11. Though he does not refer to the flea in this passage as he does in previous lines, as a vessel carrying their mingled blood, he has not completely forgotten it. While he has ceased to remind her that their blood has been mixed, and that they have essentially ‘had sex’, he does urge her to “learn how false fears be; just so much honor, when thou yield'st to me, will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee” 12. Now, instead of convincing her that they might as well sleep together, since it has fundamentally taken place anyway, the speaker is trying to convince the woman that, by not sleeping with him, she is wasting the blood that the flea has taken, and that it has died in vain. He urges her that her fears are false, since the flea has already bitten her, and their blood is already mixed, and since all this, from the biting to the eventual killing of the flea, has been so easy and relatively uneventful, succumbing to his wishes, by giving in and having sex, will be no more difficult.

While upon first reading “The Flea” the meaning is puzzling and somewhat unclear. However, with an extended knowledge of the definition of metaphysical poetry, as well as how sex was viewed at the time, the poem becomes much clearer. Donne successfully compares a flea bite with sex, two seemingly unrelated things, which is the very definition of the metaphysical conceit he is so well known for. While this poem could be read with a number of different tones and annotations, reading it in a somewhat flirtatious tone, rather then completely serious, seems to do it the most justice. However, whether serious or satirical, Donne’s poem “The Flea” remains a great love poem, as well as an excellent example of metaphysical poetry.

Bibliography

Donne, John. “The Flea.” Poems of John Donne. London, 1896. ed. E.K. Chambers. 2003. Anniina Jokinen. 16 February 2006 .

Fitzroy-Dale, Nicholas. Home page. 1998. February 15, 2006 .

Richardson, J. Michael. Home Page. Date unknown. 16 February 2006 .

The Academy of American Poets- John Donne. 2006. The Academy of American Poets. 16 February 2006. .