Donne's "The Flea" Commentary

"The Flea" by John Donne

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deny'st me is;
It sucked 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 pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.

Oh 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, w'are met,
And cloistered 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 sucked 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 honor, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

Commentary

In John Donne’s poem “The Flea”, the diction, imagery, and constant use of metaphors creates a comical, yet persuasive and argumentative tone, which exhibits another one of Donne’s metaphysical poems. Donne uses unusual images to resemble symbols of love and romance. The image of the flea biting the speaker and then his beloved metaphorically represents the two engaging in premarital sex. Using the innocence of the image “two bloods mingled” within the flea, the speaker wants to convince his lover that sexually mingling would be equally innocent.

In the first stanza the speaker says, the flea “sucked me first, and now sucks thee, and in this flea our two bloods mingled be”. The speaker is implying that the flea has sucked his blood first and then his beloved, so now inside the flea’s body they are “mingled”, hence in a sense they have already had sex, though the lover denies him. The speaker tries to reason with the lover and suggests that their blood mingling in the body is neither “a sin, nor shame”. The speaker argues that the flea is not a big deal, hence losing her virginity would not be either.

In the second stanza, the speaker persuades the speaker and says, “Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, where we almost, yea, more than married are.” The three lives the speaker is referring to are himself, his lover, and the flea. The speaker is suggesting that by allowing the flea to cause their blood to conjoin, the two have had sex in its body, therefore they have become “more than married are” though they are not married at all. The speaker metaphorically refers to the flea as their “marriage bed” and “marriage temple” as the flea is sacred and he tries to prevent the lover from killing it. The speaker exaggerates using the words “self-murder” and “sacrilege” to guilt and convince the lover that in killing the flea, she will be but also killing herself and the speaker.

By the third stanza, the lover does not fall for the persuasive accusations the speaker makes throughout the play as the lover “purpled thy nail”, evidently squashing the flea. So the speaker calls the lover “cruel and sudden” having killed the innocent flea, which also destroyed the hopes of sexual relations between the two. The speaker suggests to the lover that she should not fear the loss of honor as long as she surrenders her virginity to him.

In conclusion, Donne uses diction, imagery, and figurative language to convince his lover to have premarital sex with him. These devices create a seductive and argumentative, yet comical tone throughout the play. Using the innocence of the image “two bloods mingled” within the flea, the speaker wants to convince his lover that sexually mingling and the loss of her virginity would also be innocent.