October 22, 2003: Difference between revisions
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{{Sp}}Yet this enjoys before it woo, | {{Sp}}Yet this enjoys before it woo, | ||
{{Sp}}And pampered swells with one blood made of two, | {{Sp}}And pampered swells with one blood made of two, | ||
{{Sp}}And this, alas, is more than we would do. | {{Sp}}And this, alas, is more than we would do.{{refn|I.e., The flea has had a mini consummation—what the woman denies the man—by penetrating, sucking, and mingling the blood of the couple. “Swells” in line 8 suggests a pregnancy.}} | ||
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, {{ln|10}} | Oh {{H:title|I.e., Stop, don’t kill the flea. The drama of the scene is implied by the speaker.|stay}}, three lives in one flea spare,{{refn|The young lady goes to kill the flea, and the young man stops her, if only for a moment.}} {{ln|10}} | ||
Where we almost, nay more than married are. | Where we almost, nay more than married are. | ||
This flea is you and I, and this | This flea is you and I, and this | ||
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Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met, | Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met, | ||
And cloistered in these living walls of jet. {{ln|15}} | And cloistered in these living walls of jet. {{ln|15}} | ||
{{Sp}}Though use make you apt to kill me, | {{Sp}}Though {{H:title|I.e., habit.|use}} make you apt to kill me, | ||
{{Sp}}Let not to that, self-murder added be, | {{Sp}}Let not to that, self-murder added be, | ||
{{Sp}}And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. | {{Sp}}And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. | ||
Cruel and sudden, hast thou since | Cruel and sudden,{{refn|The young lady has killed the flea.}} hast thou since | ||
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? {{ln|20}} | Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? {{ln|20}} | ||
Wherein could this flea guilty be, | Wherein could this flea guilty be, | ||
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{{notes}} | {{notes}} | ||
{{ | {{wc}} | ||
{{refbegin|indent=yes}} | {{refbegin|indent=yes}} | ||
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Harold |date={{date|2008}} |title=John Donne and the Metaphysical Poets |series=Bloom’s Classic Critical Views |url= |location=New York |publisher=Bloom’s Literary Criticism |ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Harold |date={{date|2008}} |title=John Donne and the Metaphysical Poets |series=Bloom’s Classic Critical Views |url= |location=New York |publisher=Bloom’s Literary Criticism |ref=harv }} | ||
Latest revision as of 08:33, 16 March 2023
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Mark but this flea, and mark in this, |
notes
- ↑ A fun and clever carpe diem poem, “The Flea” is an extended conceit and logical argument in a microdrama of seduction. In 1894, critic Edmund Gosse called the poem a “gross and offensive piece of extravagance,” but acknowledges that it, along with “The Good Morrow,” are detailed, personal, and has “the stamp of life on them” (Bloom 2008, p. 101). While not published until after Donne’s death, “The Flea” was likely written in the 1590s when the poet’s interests leaves the pursuit of earthly pleasure and begins his more philosophical musings that characterize his mature works (Bloom 2008, p. 117).
- ↑ I.e., The flea has had a mini consummation—what the woman denies the man—by penetrating, sucking, and mingling the blood of the couple. “Swells” in line 8 suggests a pregnancy.
- ↑ The young lady goes to kill the flea, and the young man stops her, if only for a moment.
- ↑ The young lady has killed the flea.
works cited
- Bloom, Harold, ed. (2008). John Donne and the Metaphysical Poets. Bloom’s Classic Critical Views. New York: Bloom’s Literary Criticism.
