The Flea John Donne

“The Flea” was written by John Donne in 1633. Donne was the greatest preacher of his time. While, spending his life of preaching at the St. Paul’s Cathedral in England, London. Donne was well known for his speeches, people would come all over just to hear his sermons. In this poem Donne uses imagery to tell a story to the audience, as if someone can see it all playing out in front of them. In this poem Donne uses imagery of “The Flea”, marriage and religion, and sex to establish a union with his significant other. The first way Donne uses imagery is by the flea, a tiny black insect that is the primary image of the poem. Throughout he uses metaphors and puns that Donne is famous for, and they are woven in throughout this poem. “Mark but this flea, and mark in this” (1). He begins the poem by directing the audience’s attention to his beloved to the flea. Then, he uses to illustrate the flea as if it was a person, feeding on a feast of blood. “And pampered swells with one blood made of two” (8). Here we get the oh-so-delicious image effect, of the swelling with the blood. The speaker uses metaphors to connect blood with life. “Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare” (10). The flea contains three lives, its own, his, and hers. Lastly, oh, no! She kills the flea, “Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?” (20). The elaborate rhetoric about that
“The Flea” has a wonderful pattern to it that shows a mixture of imagery, including some metaphors, pun, and different tones throughout this entire poem. In this poem the speaker was persistent of his request to get her in the bed with him. But, throughout the entire poem he always respected for her. Until she killed the flea, and he used an analogy that she committed sin and sleeping with him would be consider sin as well. The entire time he was trying to convince her to sleep with him, he was using religion and marriage to establish is an