Explication of John Donne’s “The Flea”

Andrew Stutts

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.

                                                                                              John Donne (Donne 8)

 

The dictionary provides the following definition of a flea; “any of the numerous small, wingless bloodsucking insects of the order Siphonaptera, parasitic upon mammals and birds noted for their ability to leap.”(Dictionary.com)  Today it is known that fleas carry and transmit the bacteria Yersinia pestis received from its infected rodent host.  Furthermore, people are afflicted with the plague when they are bitten by fleas carrying this aforementioned bacterium.  In fact, a massive plague epidemic killed millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. (A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia) One would not think to associate this lowly parasite in connection with love or marriage.  However, this is not only the tittle but the metaphor John Donne uses in his love poem “The Flea”.  This essay will attempt to analyze this poem and the symbolism behind the flea used in it. 

John Donne’s “The Flea” could be interpreted as an interesting poem on marriage, with the flea representing marriage.  Normally it would be untenable to compare the institution of marriage to such a lowly parasitic creature.  However, it is possible to imagine that the intent of the poem is to pursue the meaning of marriage and strive to provide an explanation of its nature.  In the poem the flea is killed by the speaker’s lover, reflecting that marriage is very fickle in nature and short lived with a very real mortality. Donne’s poem interpreted in this manner expresses a very pessimistic view of marriage and is void of any real optimism.

“The Flea” at first appears to be an interesting poem on marriage and this is an acceptable interpretation.  However, to explicate “The Flea” in congruence with Donne’s intent one must have a basic understanding of 17^th century Metaphysical Poetry and its use of conceit as a form of obscure expression.  Donne’s poetry belongs to the genre of 17^th century Metaphysical Poetry that includes religion as a major topic.  However, it also includes love poetry that is very sensuous in nature and despite being a drastic contrast to metaphysics is a central theme for the poets of that time.  The language in these poems is crafted in such a way to display the poet’s wit in transferring their veiled connotations.   Donne does exactly this by the use of what is called a conceit to condense erotic ideas in “The Flea”.   A conceit “is a passage which causes imaginative shock, usually through the stated or clearly implied linkage of things or ideas from different associated categories.” (Schulze 4) Therefore, it is difficult to perceive the concept or basic idea of the poem without first understanding the conceit, which is often covered throughout to the whole poem. (Schulze 4) 

Therefore, on further inspection one can identify a ploy by the speaker to seduce the woman he desires with clever inferences and innuendo, using a flea as his conceit.  The speaker’s choice of the flea as his conceit to persuade his lady into a premarital sexual affair is ironic.  The irony is in the fact that the flea is indiscriminate concerning the species it feeds off of and will bounce from host to host.  One can only speculate if the speaker is as indiscriminate in his sexual encounters.  The following is an explication of “The Flea” with the aforementioned in mind;

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
          How little that which thou deniest me is; (Donne 8)

The speaker begins his petition for illicit romance by feigning jealous over the liberties that he is denied but received by flea.

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 ;  (Donne 8)

The speaker now infers that their tryst or the mingling of their two bodies would be no more shameful than the mingling of their blood in the flea.

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. (Donne 8)

The speaker further elaborates that the joining of their two bodies in sexual union would be no less dirty or unnatural as the flea making their blood one inside itself.

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. (Donne 8)

Here the speaker is being facetious by begging his lady to spare the life of the flea and thus the legitimacy of their sexual encounter.  Basically, the speaker is attempting to justify premarital sex by inferring that in the flea they are already married.

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. (Donne 8)

The speaker is still playfully pleading for the flea’s life.  He is asking his lady not to let the fear of losing her reputation prevent her from making love to him. 

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? (Donne 8)

The speaker’s lady kills the flea and he protests both in defense of the flea’s innocence and the blamelessness of them potentially having sex.

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.

The speaker acknowledges that the lady killed the flea and is thus denying his sexual advances.  He maintains that her motive to protect both of their honors is wasted compared to what they could have by living in the moment and having sex together.  In conclusion, the speaker ends “The Flea” by making one last plea for sex and laments his lady’s choice.   

 

 

Works Cited

Donne, John. The Poems of John Donne. eBook. http://www.archive.org/stream/poemsofjohndonne1donnuoft

Schulze, Daniela. John Donne –“The Flea” and Andrew Marvell- “ To His Coy Mistress”. Norderstedt Germany: Druck and Bindung: Books on Demand GmbH, 2007. Print. <http://books.google.com/books?id=1_EWQj0TiHQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=flea definition&hl=en&sa=X&ei=858fUc_tOsiFywHt8IB4&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ

Dictionary.com. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flea?s=t>.

"A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia.." Plague. 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001622/>.