What happens in the flea poem?

“The Flea” is a poem by the English poet John Donne, most likely written in the 1590s. In “The Flea,” the speaker tries to seduce his mistress with a surprising (and potentially gross) extended metaphor: both he and she have been bitten by the same flea, meaning their separate blood now mingles inside the flea’s body.

What happens to the flea in the flea?

The flea has bitten them both, and now their blood is mixed inside the flea. He says the flea represents the joining of their blood, as in marriage. If she squashes the flea, she will be killing herself, the speaker, and, oh-by-the-way, committing sacrilege against the institution of marriage.

What happens at the end of the flea?

The speaker tells his beloved to look at the flea before them and to note “how little” is that thing that she denies him. As his beloved moves to kill the flea, the speaker stays her hand, asking her to spare the three lives in the flea: his life, her life, and the flea’s own life. …

What kind of a poem is the flea?

“The Flea” is an erotic metaphysical poem (first published posthumously in 1633) by John Donne (1572–1631).

What is the main theme of the flea?

Major Themes in “The Flea”: Love, sex, and seduction are the major themes crafted in the poem. The poet used a persuasive conceit of flea to show how effectively this tiny insect unites them by sucking their blood. Also, this mingling of their blood does not involve any sense of shame, sin, or guilt.

How does the flea represent three lives in one?

When the speaker notices his beloved moving ahead to kill the flea, he stays her hand. He asks her to spare the three lives inside the flea. He says that their mingled blood inside the flea means they are more than the married couple and the flea is their marriage bed and marriage temple.

What does the flea symbolize?

John Donne’s poem, ‘The Flea’ is a metaphor for sex. The speaker shows a flea to a woman he wants to sleep with, and states that the flea has combined them into one by biting them both and sucking their blood. A metaphor for sex, the flea has bitten both the speaker and the woman and their blood is mixed together.

Why is the flea a metaphysical poem?

Donne’s use of the flea as an extended metaphor of their relationship represents a metaphysical conceit that dramatizes the conflict between the woman losing her virginity to the speaker and the far-fetched attempt of the speaker to emphasize the significance of the flea which is being used to represent a sacred bond …

Is the theme of love expressed in the flea explain?

Donne is not simply attempting to seduce a mistress in whom he has no lasting interest. In John Donne’s “The Flea,” the speaker is not expressing his love for the woman to which he speaks, but his lust: for his argument about the flea is his attempt to convince her to sleep with him, a plea that she has been resisting.

What do fleas mean spiritually?

Through a spiritual lens, the flea may appear to someone who is feeling overwhelmed by their surroundings and serves as a suggestion to find quiet, dark places to heal — anticipating a rebirth.

Does a flea have energy?

They use their muscles, not to jump, but to slowly store energy in an efficient springy material called resilin.

What makes the flea metaphysical?

Who is the author of the poem The Flea?

“The Flea” is a poem by the English poet John Donne, most likely written in the 1590s. In “The Flea,” the speaker tries to seduce his mistress with a surprising (and potentially gross) extended metaphor: both he and she have been bitten by the same flea, meaning their separate blood now mingles inside…

What’s the meaning of the poem The Flea by John Donne?

John Donne: Poems Summary and Analysis of “The Flea”. He argues that since the flea contains the “life” of both herself and the speaker, she would be guilty both of suicide and a triple homicide in killing it. The woman in question is obviously not convinced, for in the third stanza she has killed the flea with a fingernail.

What does the speaker say to his beloved in the flea?

The speaker tells his beloved to look at the flea before them and to note “how little” is that thing that she denies him. For the flea, he says, 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.”

What does the woman say at the end of the flea?

The woman claims triumph over the lover’s argument, responding that neither she nor the man is weaker for her having killed the flea (lines 23-24).