Individual+Passage+1

 THE FLEA. by John Donne

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.

__**Analysis:**__ The speaker in this poem is a man who is trying to seduce his lover into a premarital sexual relationship. She refuses as he tries to convince her by describing what the flea, that had just bitten both of them, means to their relationship. The use of conceit is seen when he compares the flea to their marriage bed. "This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is." The flea contains both their blood and like the flea the man in this poem tells his wife they should mingle in bed like their blood in the flea. "And in this flea our two bloods mingled be... And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas ! is more than we would do." Due to the speakers use of conceit his intent of seducing his lover into intercourse is clearly seen. "Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?" At the end however, the lover kills the flea and the speaker is left unsatisfied.

H. Perez