In class tomorrow, we will practice annotating poems. Get us started by choosing one stanza from "The Flea," explaining any annotations you would make, and analyzing the meaning of that part of the poem.
"Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is; Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than we would do." Lines 1-9 describes how a flea has sucked his and his dearest's blood. He describes how now the fly contains his blood and her blood mingled together. His beloved will not sleep with him, so the fly represents their love together, which he is not receiving. "And pampered swells with one blood made of two" (8). Line eight refers that the two different blood has made another, such as pregnancy. This whole stanza is like a strange analogy as to them being combined together without sexual intercourse. The fly represents them together. Line 9 reinstates my statement that the fly containing both of their blood is "more than we would do" referring intercourse.
Lines 10-18 state: “Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay 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 are met, And cloistered in these living walls of jet Though use make apt to kill me Let not to that, self murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.” In these lines the speaker is pleading with the girl he loves not to kill the flea. He asks her to spare the flea’s life because it not only contains its own life, but also his and her life. So therefore by killing the flea she is taking three lives including her own. He then explains, where their blood is mingled they are almost married, and the flea is their marriage bed and temple all in one. In lines 14-15 he states “Through parents grudge, and you we are met, and cloistered in these living walls of jet”. First of all this could represent that the girl is of higher social ranking than him, because her parents do not approve of them being together. But even though her parents grudge their romance, and she does not love him back, they are nevertheless united inside the tiny black living walls of the flea. In the final lines of the stanza he pleads although she might want to kill him and the flea, by killing them she is also killing herself, because the flea contains her blood also. In conclusion he states that to kill the flea would be sacrilege, “three sins in killing three.” - hawk
" Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare," - the first line is talking about marriage with flea as the metaphor for comparison. He is saying their marriage is on the brink and only has room for 3 more complications for it to be ruined.
"Where we almost, nay more than married are."- the second line is him restating to his partner the fact that they are indeed married and he is pleading to him/her to preserve their marriage.
"This flea is you and I, and this" - The third line is another metaphor recomparing their marriage to a flea and them being one unison by marriage.
"Our marriage bed and marriage temple is;"- The fourth line he is saying that through marriage our bed becomes the temple in which we both become one.
"Though parents grudge, and you, we are met,"- The fifth line he is saying though your parents may not approve you married me anyway against their approval already and part of marriage is being one which is only accomplished truly through sex.
"And cloistered in these living walls of jet."- In the sixth line he is saying yet we are married and alone in the bed, which he again is kind of comparing to a temple, you still won't have sex with me.
"Though use make you apt to kill me,"- In the seventh line he is stating the first of three ways, three lives of the flea, in which she is killing the marriage. He saying that she is killing him and his love for her by not having sex with him.
"Let not to that, self-murder added be,"- In the eighth line he is saying not only is her unwilling to have sex with him killing him, but it is killing her love for him as well, because in marriage both partners need that sexual intimacy to truly come together as companions. This is the second life of the flea.
"And sacrilege, three sins in killing three."- In the last line he states that it is sin for her not to have sex with him because she is killing him, herself, and the marriage itself which he compares to three lives of a flea. He compares her resistance to him in the bedroom to sin and murderer of love.
Lines 19-27 of The Flea states the following: “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 sucked from thee? Yet thou triumph’st, and say’st that thou Find’st not thy self nor me the weaker now; Tis true; then learn how false fears be: Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me, Will wasted, as this flea’s death took life from thee.” The Flea is a humorous love poem written by a man named John Donne. This poem is about a young man who uses a foolish argument to try to persuade his lover to have premarital sex with him. In this poem the flea is used to help John Donne make his argument for sex. The poem contains lines in iambic pentameter. The Flea also ends in two pentameter lines at the end of each stanza, such as stanza three lines 25-27. Stanza three of this poem consists of nine lines, and its rhyme scheme is in couplets, with its final line rhyming with the last couplet. The final stanza describes the young man’s lover killing the flea. The speaker questions his lover of her motive for killing the flea, and also what sin was the flea guilty of. “Wherein could this flea guilty ne, except in that drop which it sucked from thee? (lines 21-22)” The woman says that neither of them are weaker for having killed the flea, and the man says that this very statement proves that the woman’s fears about sex are false.
The poem “The Flea” by John Donne focuses on a flea that has bitten two lovers, so that their blood is combined within it. The speaker tells his lover to look at the flea and see “how little that which though deniest me is” (line 2). He is trying to convince her that it is not a bad thing if she goes to bed with him. Not only do her parents despise their relationship, but she is virgin and refuses him. He says that the flea has sucked first his blood, then her blood, so that now, inside the flea, they are mingled and that mingling cannot be called “sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead.” (line 6) The flea has joined them together in a way that, “alas, is more than we would do.” (line 9) The narrator claims that this mixture of blood, “one blood made of two” (line 8), is the same as sexual intercourse and the flea would be their marriage bed. Within the flea there is no ill effect, so then there should be no consequences to performing the same act of love without the intermediary of the flea. I agree with WMPdixon111 when they say that he compares her resistance to him in the bedroom to sin and it would make her a murderer of love. If she were to sleep with him, she would lose no more honor than she did when she killed the flea. The man says that by killing the flea and him she is also killing herself, because the flea contains her blood as well.
"Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
ReplyDeleteHow little that which thou deniest me is;
Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do."
Lines 1-9 describes how a flea has sucked his and his dearest's blood. He describes how now the fly contains his blood and her blood mingled together. His beloved will not sleep with him, so the fly represents their love together, which he is not receiving. "And pampered swells with one blood made of two" (8). Line eight refers that the two different blood has made another, such as pregnancy. This whole stanza is like a strange analogy as to them being combined together without sexual intercourse. The fly represents them together.
Line 9 reinstates my statement that the fly containing both of their blood is "more than we would do" referring intercourse.
Lines 10-18 state:
ReplyDelete“Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, nay 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 are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet
Though use make apt to kill me
Let not to that, self murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.”
In these lines the speaker is pleading with the girl he loves not to kill the flea. He asks her to spare the flea’s life because it not only contains its own life, but also his and her life. So therefore by killing the flea she is taking three lives including her own. He then explains, where their blood is mingled they are almost married, and the flea is their marriage bed and temple all in one. In lines 14-15 he states “Through parents grudge, and you we are met, and cloistered in these living walls of jet”. First of all this could represent that the girl is of higher social ranking than him, because her parents do not approve of them being together. But even though her parents grudge their romance, and she does not love him back, they are nevertheless united inside the tiny black living walls of the flea. In the final lines of the stanza he pleads although she might want to kill him and the flea, by killing them she is also killing herself, because the flea contains her blood also. In conclusion he states that to kill the flea would be sacrilege, “three sins in killing three.”
- hawk
" Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare," - the first line is talking about marriage with flea as the metaphor for comparison. He is saying their marriage is on the brink and only has room for 3 more complications for it to be ruined.
ReplyDelete"Where we almost, nay more than married are."- the second line is him restating to his partner the fact that they are indeed married and he is pleading to him/her to preserve their marriage.
"This flea is you and I, and this" - The third line is another metaphor recomparing their marriage to a flea and them being one unison by marriage.
"Our marriage bed and marriage temple is;"- The fourth line he is saying that through marriage our bed becomes the temple in which we both become one.
"Though parents grudge, and you, we are met,"- The fifth line he is saying though your parents may not approve you married me anyway against their approval already and part of marriage is being one which is only accomplished truly through sex.
"And cloistered in these living walls of jet."- In the sixth line he is saying yet we are married and alone in the bed, which he again is kind of comparing to a temple, you still won't have sex with me.
"Though use make you apt to kill me,"- In the seventh line he is stating the first of three ways, three lives of the flea, in which she is killing the marriage. He saying that she is killing him and his love for her by not having sex with him.
"Let not to that, self-murder added be,"- In the eighth line he is saying not only is her unwilling to have sex with him killing him, but it is killing her love for him as well, because in marriage both partners need that sexual intimacy to truly come together as companions. This is the second life of the flea.
"And sacrilege, three sins in killing three."- In the last line he states that it is sin for her not to have sex with him because she is killing him, herself, and the marriage itself which he compares to three lives of a flea. He compares her resistance to him in the bedroom to sin and murderer of love.
WMPdixon111
Lines 19-27 of The Flea states the following:
ReplyDelete“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 sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st, and say’st that thou
Find’st not thy self nor me the weaker now;
Tis true; then learn how false fears be:
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will wasted, as this flea’s death took life from thee.”
The Flea is a humorous love poem written by a man named John Donne. This poem is about a young man who uses a foolish argument to try to persuade his lover to have premarital sex with him. In this poem the flea is used to help John Donne make his argument for sex. The poem contains lines in iambic pentameter. The Flea also ends in two pentameter lines at the end of each stanza, such as stanza three lines 25-27. Stanza three of this poem consists of nine lines, and its rhyme scheme is in couplets, with its final line rhyming with the last couplet. The final stanza describes the young man’s lover killing the flea. The speaker questions his lover of her motive for killing the flea, and also what sin was the flea guilty of. “Wherein could this flea guilty ne, except in that drop which it sucked from thee? (lines 21-22)” The woman says that neither of them are weaker for having killed the flea, and the man says that this very statement proves that the woman’s fears about sex are false.
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ReplyDeleteThe poem “The Flea” by John Donne focuses on a flea that has bitten two lovers, so that their blood is combined within it. The speaker tells his lover to look at the flea and see “how little that which though deniest me is” (line 2). He is trying to convince her that it is not a bad thing if she goes to bed with him. Not only do her parents despise their relationship, but she is virgin and refuses him. He says that the flea has sucked first his blood, then her blood, so that now, inside the flea, they are mingled and that mingling cannot be called “sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead.” (line 6) The flea has joined them together in a way that, “alas, is more than we would do.” (line 9) The narrator claims that this mixture of blood, “one blood made of two” (line 8), is the same as sexual intercourse and the flea would be their marriage bed. Within the flea there is no ill effect, so then there should be no consequences to performing the same act of love without the intermediary of the flea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with WMPdixon111 when they say that he compares her resistance to him in the bedroom to sin and it would make her a murderer of love. If she were to sleep with him, she would lose no more honor than she did when she killed the flea. The man says that by killing the flea and him she is also killing herself, because the flea contains her blood as well.