Discuss "The Flea" as a typically metaphysical poem

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

“The Flea is a typically metaphysical poem.” Discuss this statement

The metaphysical genre derives from the older poem of Ovid, but the form of the metaphysical poets did not begin to emerge until the seventeenth century, and although was a style used by many eminent English lyricists during this period, infusing new dynamism in to poetic trend of the time, it was not recognised as a collective style until 1744, by Samuel Johnson. The hallmark of a metaphysical poem is the conceit, a figure of speech or element of the poem that employs atypical and often paradoxical imagery. Many would consider John Donne, poet of The Flea, as the master of the conceit, cleverly entwining well rehearsed persuasive techniques with often flamboyant and seemingly illogical imagery. The Flea is arguably an almost perfect illustration of a poem of the metaphysical genre, and it can be clearly observed that Donne includes an intelligently strong argument, demonstrating his innate ability to fuse thought with passion, whilst using the metaphysical features of the poem’s structure itself to support his argument. The Flea’s subject itself conveys the literal sense of the metaphysical, with the flea representing much more beyond that of its physical state, which is perhaps one of the reasons that Donne’s poems, as will be explored, are such powerful examples of the poetic manner of his period and the metaphysical genre as a whole.

The title of the poem defines the conceit within the piece, and it is immediate within the first stanza that his carefully constructed argument will take place in form of contrast and comparison between the inanimate object of the flea, and the much more contentious subject of virginity and premarital sex. Metaphysical poets were at the time influenced by the renaissance movement and questions about religious morals – one of which being abstinence until marriage, and this subject was popularly argued during the renaissance period. Typical of Donne’s style as a metaphysical poet, he uses two opposing ideas and objects, that of an insect and of his partner’s virginity, and chooses to channel the real argument of the poem through a seemingly obscure, almost illogical, symbol. This sets The Flea, and indeed Donne apart from other poets and poetic genres, particularly due to the fact that it is strongly dissimilar to the conceits found in other poetry written during the later Elizabethan period. For example, the sonnet, favoured by poets such as Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser, often formed what are now seen as commonplace clichéd comparisons of subjects to something similar and complimentary – most identifiably, the comparison of a woman to the beauty of nature, or love to the exquisiteness and passion of a red rose. The startling arguments Donne uses go against the notion of romanticism and how to woo a woman, and the very direct and blunt way of approaching the issue is not unusual in Donne’s work. The fact that Donne immediately establishes the flea itself as symbolic of the implicit argument about the insignificance of his partner’s virginity, enables the confident definition of this poem as typically metaphysical, at least with regards to the subject and the way in which the underlying argument is presented.

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The poetic structure employed in The Flea is also a defining characteristic of this poem as metaphysical, as it is vital to the pace and reason of the poem. It is separated in to three stanzas, each consisting of nine lines, enabling each of those to be a vessel for a slightly different aspect of Donne’s argument. In this poem, Donne, or his persona, is speaking directly to a female partner, with the intent of eventually seducing her. The way in which he does this is conceivably confrontational, as he argues that his partner losing her virginity is of equal or even less importance than the existence of a mere flea. Again, this reinforces the generic conventions of the metaphysical poem, as he does not succumb to traditional methods of seducing a woman by trying to woo her gently with romantic words, and instead comes across in what could be perceived as an insulting manner, showing a lack of compassion or understanding for a woman’s reasons not to sleep with him before they are married. This line of argument is approached in the first stanza, and is conveyed through the reasoning that the flea has already mingled both of their bloods together and that there is little reason left to not sleep together, “And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee; Confesse it, this cannot be said, A sinne, or shame, or loss of maidenhead”. The tone of the first stanza is contemplative and whimsical, and begins to argue how unimportant virginity is. He establishes the argument that sleeping together before marriage is not wrong, and that it is just the mingling of their blood, which literally has been done by the flea already and tries to show how innocuous the mingling can be, “And in this flea, out two bloods mingled bee”. Donne further understates the value of sex by saying, “How little that which thou deny’st my is”. This is crucial to the argument as a whole and it is clear that he will layer the different aspects of the argument to help support it.

The second stanza takes a different approach, and rather than undermining the importance or value of sex and virginity, goes on to argue how important the flea is, and how symbolic the mingling of their bloods inside the life of the flea is. The pace here becomes faster and the argument more absurd, possibly trying to overcome any resistance to his argument. “This flea is you and I, and this, Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is”, clearly exaggerates the situation, and again conforms to metaphysical conventions by taking the importance of the flea far beyond it’s physical existence. Despite this, the typical metaphysical traits of the poem become more unambiguous in the third and final stanza. It can suddenly be seen much more clearly how paradoxical this argument is, and yet how subtly and cleverly it can be constructed and subsequently conveyed through the subject of a meagre flea who has bitten both partners. The pace becomes slower once more, and completes the circular argument of the poem – the flea began as nothing, and now it has been killed so easily by the woman, ends as nothing too. A further typically metaphysical trait used by Donne in this poem is the contradicting argument he ends with. The argument he ends with does not understate the value of virginity, nor exclaim how important the flea way, instead he now articulates that in killing the flea, nothing bad has happened. Having previously argued that killing the flea would be, “sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three”, Donne then says that the fears were unfounded, and that the woman’s fears about sleeping with Donne’s persona before marriage would be unfounded and irrational too. The three stanzas convey Donne’s point from every angle, which is perhaps a way of ensuring that his argument is watertight and can stand up to any opposition from the woman.

As well as the structure of the poem’s argument being typically metaphysical, it is also no less intricately designed than the general internal structure, including the rhyme scheme and meter, which also and equally contribute to the way in which the poem continues to exemplify a range of metaphysical paradigms. Each stanza follows the same rhyming scheme, consisting of three couplets and ending with a triplet, denoted by the pattern ‘a a b b c c d d d’. The rhyming triplet at the end of each stanza reinforces the power of three, an occurring theme in much of Donne’s poetry. Not only identifiable in the rhyme scheme and stanza setup, but also through allusion to three lives, “three lives in one flea”, and “, three sinnes in killing three”. This also indicates the metaphysical genre of the poem, with the repetition of learned imagery to merge vastly different ideas in to one compelling argument. The allusion to the power of three throughout The Flea arguably denotes the strong religious undertones of the poem, with the “three lives in one” resembling the three representations of Jesus Christ in the Holy Trinity. This would not be a difficult conclusion to come to since much metaphysical poetry - especially that of Donne, who some would argue to be deeply religious man – was concerned with the more profound areas of human experience, often focusing on man’s relationship with God as well as on love and sensuality. The stress pattern Donne uses in The Flea is also typically metaphysical, and is noted for the poetic metre he used. It is clear to see that the structure is not smooth and flowing, but instead has much a more changing and uneven rhythm. This also closely resembles natural speech, and helps to build up pace and tension within the written argument, just as it would had it have been spoken verbally in real life, thus helping to merge a deeper sense of realism in to his argument.

The punctuation used by Donne in The Flea also helps to reinforce Donne’s argument, with contractions such as, “Deny’st”, “suck’d”, and “pamper’d”, and caesuras at the end of each stanza. These ensure the poem flows much more easily but again, refer to metaphysical traits, as the punctuation also helps to create the feeling of increasing confidence behind the argument, but also to allow adequate time for the partner, or audience, to digest the argument and perhaps reason with it. The stress pattern in the lines also ensures that certain words are emphasised. The repetition of the stressed word “marke”, in the first line of the poem, creates a very commanding and confident tone, as though drawing attention to his argument. All stanzas begin similarly, with the use of very commanding language, such as, “Marke”, “Oh stay”, and “cruell and sodaine”. The language is quite harsh and repeats the idea that Donne is confident and clear about his argument. This application of commanding language helps underpin the metaphysical style of the poem, due to the fact that Donne tries to include a sense of realism and truth beyond its usual boundaries in a poem of this nature.

The language in each stanza is also reflective of the aspect of the argument. In the first stanza Donne writes, “And pamper’d sells with one blood made of two, And this alas, is more than wee would doe”. The way the language creates a divide between the enjoyment the flea gets from the mingling of their blood, and the enjoyment of the partners, is a tool used to provoke a feeling of guilt from the woman, and tries to persuade her to give in to his pleas. The phrase, “How little” is key in conveying the idea that sex is not a big deal, and almost how much it does not matter. As the argument becomes faster paced and more absurd in the second stanza, the imagery becomes more embellished, as Donne heightens the significance of the flea by saying, “This flea is you and I, and this our marriage bed and marriage temple is”. The language also becomes more hyperbolic, such as, “living walls of Jet”, and keeps in touch with the subtle religious undertones of the poem with the word “cloystered”, relating to religion. The alliteration used in the last line of stanza two, with “sacrilege” and “sinnes”, helping to exaggerate and hyperbolise Donne’s increasingly incongruous argument, as well as extend the subliminal theme of religion. This again proves that the way several subtle threads are woven through this poem clearly indicates that The Flea embodies most characteristics of the metaphysical genre. As the argument technique begins to turn in the last stanza, Donne stresses harsh language such as “cruell and sodaine”, and “blood of innocence”, to perhaps draw a feeling of guilt from the woman, or to create a greater support for the turn of his argument, when he says that what was thought to be such a terrible act actually had little consequence. The exaggerated language is used to try and support the poem’s argument and encourage the submission of the woman, which, because of the metaphysical genre, seems to be an often obscure and in places seemingly illogical argument.

In conclusion, it is thus very clear that John Donne’s The Flea poem is typically metaphysical, by embodying quintessential characteristics of the genre throughout the poem. As well as the conceit within the poem, and the metaphysical manipulation of the poem’s structure and form, the poem is also one of immense innuendo. In keeping with metaphysical conventions, although there are constant hints towards the erotic, the poem does not have any explicit reference to it, highlighting the subtlety of the argument he portrays, which is cleverly hidden but delivered through use of a very unusual and absurd object which in this case is the physical existence of the flea itself. The poem is successful as a typical poem of the metaphysical poetic movement, as it utilises every element of the poem, including its structure and language, to exhibit the archetypal attributes of absurd imagery and witty, intelligent and yet subtle arguments to convey the passionate argument of John Donne.

Ashley Louise Coffey 12CR English – Miss Barry