Here Donne has asked his mistress not to kill the flea, cleverly revealing that it would be suicide since both her and Donne are joined as one in this flea. He uses a hyperbole, the deliberate exaggeration of saying this would be a murder, thus creates effect. He uses emotional blackmail and accusatory towards his mistress. However, the argument is turned around, when she retorts that neither of them are worse off in this act, to which he proceeds a mock concession, pretending to give into her point. The final few lines of the final stanza show a reversal. Donne agrees with his mistress’ argument, he can see how she would be right when she claims that killing a flea is so unimportant. However, there is a clever finish to Donne’s argument, and one that reveals a lot about his attitude to love and women. He shows impudence and confidence when he says that no harm has been done, equally there would there be no harm done if they were to make love. This shows how he thinks the act of love is so little, he is comparing it to the killing of a flea, a creature so small.
Donne reveals his attitude to women throughout this whole poem. Is this a poem of love, seduction or lust? It is indeed genuinely persuasive and a poem that certainly carries an intellectual argument throughout, but is the poem a compliment to the women, or a means of satisfying the male desire resulting in it being highly offensive to feminists. It is certain that Donne seems to be enjoying himself as he puts forwards his argument, there is no doubt it is full of clever persuasions, making him appear witty. But does this show that he is more interested in this clever, witty and persuasive argument, or in his mistress? As readers, his ingenuity has to be admired, it is certainly a poem based on a conceit, a product of wit and humour!
The poem “The Flea” is written in a tripartite structure well suited to Donne’s development and construction of his argument. His first stanza allows him to put forward his case, introducing the image of the flea and his argument. The second stanza allows him to develop his argument rapidly and the third carries out his triumphant conclusion. The pace is quick and breathless, it allows him to use his logic, providing a twist making his persuasions all the more emphatic. The rhyme scheme of each verse, which is aabbccddd, shows a triplet at the end of each stanza for effect and emphasis.
Throughout the poem, the image of a flea is used, which is then developed as the poem proceeds. At first, the image of a flea is almost disconcerting. Fleabites were common around the Elizabethan time, it was almost a way of Elizabethan life. The vivid image of its “purple” blood, and its hard, shiny black carapace body, living in “these walls of living jet” is shown when Donne puts his argument in the syllogism.
When Donne puts forward his argument of suggestive murder of both him and herself if she kills the flea, the imagery in this poem intensifies. His argument shows that now his mistress and himself are joined conjugally, as the flea now isn’t just a symbol of their love, but instead a symbol of their marriage! The flea now represents both their wedding bed and the church. This imagery seems absurd, how can a flea represent these? His idea conjoins religious imagery along with the flea showing the argument to be elevated and daring. Donne also uses the image of the flea for deliberate exaggeration, ludicrously stating that to kill the flea would be a “sin”, a murder. Religious imagery becomes apparent in this stanza, references to “sacrilege” are made, with echoes of another triple identification: the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Donne here shows his despair as he makes connotations of “self murder” and “three sinnes in killing three.” It is certain that his bold use of religious imagery based on the imagery of the flea is shocking and emphasises his confidence and wit to make such claims, adding effectiveness to his argument.
Donne shows he is not afraid to combine the sacred with the profane, as an
imagery based on the Elizabethan pun “to die” becomes apparent. The pun, meaning to experience an orgasm is ironic, this of course is what he is longing for, but shows the imagery of the flea being killed. This obscene pun is just the start of bawdy connotations we read of in the end of stanza one:
“ And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two”
Apart from the obvious double entendre of the word “swells” and the erotic overtones in this sentence, the imagery of religion is compared to the obscene.
The language throughout this poem is colloquial; the lexis is predominantly the lexis of everyday life, deliberately earthy and direct. This is shown in the first line of the poem as Donne opens with an imperative, “Mark.” The poem, which is a dramatic monologue, suggests that there is an implied listener by the use of questions and actions shown in the poem showing a sense of living and real presence. He occasionally uses a very condensed structure, resulting in an elliptical syntax, words are deliberately left out for effect. His frequent use of monosyllables and commands are also used for the effect of his argument. Donne takes a risk with experimented subjects, imagery and language in “The Flea.” The poem is not conventional nor is it contemporary. This is shown in the rhythmic scheme and the variety of tone Donne implies, both of which are important to the imagery in the poem.
The poem “Song” is very different compared to the poem “The Flea.” John Donne writes both, although they each take on a very different approach to the woman the poem is written about and how the argument is developed.
The poem “Song” belongs to a type of poem called a valediction, translating as “saying goodbye,” written around the time he was leaving for the continent and had to say goodbye to his wife Anne. The poem is tender and sincere, his wife is reluctant to let him go, the tone is heartfelt and passionate. It has a lyrical quality, like a song.
Once again, like in “The Flea,” there is the strong presence of an implied listener. The poem this time does not begin with a harsh imperative, there is a more direct address opening:
“ Sweetest love I do not go
For weariness of thee.”
The use of “thee” and “thy” throughout the poem helps to sustain the presence of that listener.
The argument in this poem is entirely different from the bawdy conceit the poem “The Flea” is based on. The tripartite structure is not used in “Song,” his intellectual argument is strong throughout the five stanzas the poem consists of. The five-verse form allows Donne to show his complex and metrical diversity. His passion and logic are fused together; he is pleading desperately with his wife to accept the necessity of his journey. The poem shows a variety in the argument, but unlike the use of imagery shown in the poem “The Flea,” the use is not as frequent. Quite frequently Donne makes an analogy, and compares himself to the sun, implying a central theme of the sun comparing it to his wife and that just like the Sun, he will too return. There is a comparison to the Greek mythology sun God called Phaeton:
“ But believe that I shall make
Speedier journeys, since I take
More wings and spurs than he.”
By Donne comparing himself to the winged horse-god who was said to carry the sun across the sky in a chariot, Donne is showing reassurance to his wife. He is providing a myth to help back up his argument by saying that he will make a speedier journey back to her than Phaeton can.
From the start of the poem “Song,” it is clear that Donne’s attitude to love and women is entirely different to this in “The Flea.” The argument throughout the poem is entirely different to “The Flea,” it shows that “Song” is a poem of passion and heartfelt love. Bawdy, sexual connotations are absent, Donne does not feel lust.
In verse one, Donne is reassuring his lover that his departure is simply a “practice” for their departure and that there is no other reason for him going away. By him reassuring her that there is no other woman, that he is not desiring for someone else or that he loves her any less than he did the previous day, it shows compassion and respect, something very different from in the poem “The Flea.” Like in “The Flea” Donne shows persuasion here, but the level of persuasion in each poem is very different.
Verse two depends on a clever comparison between him and the sun; the sun is personified for his argument. Just as the sun returns each day to shine and give light, he himself will return to his wife. This shows incentive, he is willing to spur his wife on, by giving her something logical to think of.
Verse three is again logical; Donne has combined passion and logic together in this poem. Donne is showing how his wife is feeling, he understands her and can relate to her, something which cannot be said about his attitude to the mistress in the other poem. His wife is feeling miserable, she is extremely upset and is making the situation much worse than it is by dwelling on it. Donne starts to use tender emotional blackmail in the end of this verse, and continues into verse four. He says that if she cannot control herself and she is going to carry on being as upset, then she is making him even more upset than she is. Here he shows compassion, he can understand why his wife is upset, he knows it is natural, but he cannot bear seeing her in such distress.
“ When thou sigh’st, thou sigh’st not wind,
but sigh’st my soul away
I think that this shows true love, he does not want to see her in her current state and so he figures out that if he says it will make him even more subdued, she will eventually come round for both his and hers sake.
The final verse again shows Donne’s love for his wife. He shows reassurance, showing that even though they may be apart for a little while, they will always have each other in each other’s hearts, and that they will never really be parted. His final argument of persuasion is that they don’t really need the physical presence, as long as there is the matter of trust then he will return to her once more.
Overall, by the structure and language used in “Song”, the poem is very consoling and reassuring. Compared to “The Flea,” it is very different as the respect for the women the two poems are written for differ enormously. Indeed both poems are extremely clever and logical, with well thought out ideas for argument and persuasion, and are full of wit and clever analogies. However, “Song” shows a different side to John Donne’s character than “The Flea” presents, he appears more softer and respectful, consoling and loving than when he appears bawdy and obscene, shallow and disrespectful.
