John Donne The Flea

“The Flea” by John Donne, written in the 17th century and first published in 1633 is a poem about persuasion, in that the narrator is trying to convince his partner to have sex with him. It isn’t a love poem, neither is it particularly crude or sexual. Donne manipulates the imagery of the flea into a conceit, in that the speaker is metaphorically using it as a persuasive tool in his bid to form a sexual union with the female. This in conjunction with the rhythm and rhyme scheme really puts emphasis on the flea and it’s ulterior meaning. In the first stanza he says to her ‘’And in this flea our bloods mingled be” this is in response to the flea biting the pair of them. His suggestion is that the couple are united within the flea and their