Love in Valentine and The Flea Essay -- The Flea John Donne Carol Ann

Love in Valentine and The FleaThrough a close analysis of language, structure and theme, comp ar andcontrast the poets attitude to love in Valentine and The Flea.The poesy The Flea is about a man trying to cunningly argue a womaninto bed. John Donnes The Flea was a metaphysical poem, writtenmost probably, to guard an audience of men this was called acoterie, which was a group of like-minded individuals who cleverlywrote for each others amusement. This poem was written sometime inthe 17th century where theology was extremely important and sex beforemarriage frowned upon. The poet is exploring ideas and feelings aboutlust and how unimportant losing virginity is, which a woman willobviously object to.The poem is written in three stanzas, which immortalize the progression ofhis argument. The regular rhythm and rhyme implies the confidence hehas that he will get the woman into bed for his frolic and thestrength in his argument. In each stanza there are three rhymingcouplets and a r hyming triplet. This might represent how the flea, theunseen woman and himself are united as one inside the body of theflea. Although, there are a few exceptions, the few half rhymes ineach stanza may show his conscience of being gentle and not pushingher too much.The poem has nine lines in each stanza nine is a multiple of three,which is the number that this poem seems to circle around. This,again, suggests the unity of the two peoples blood in the flea. Itcould also suggest the woman, himself and a baby. This could beimplied through the phrase pamperd swells. This could be the womanbecoming gravid from making love. This might be a more sensitiveside to the poem.The title The Fle... ... and made mewonder why she had chosen an onion to represent her substance felt forher partner. I think the poet felt strongly about how people shouldexpress their feelings to those you care about instead of followingthe crowd and sending supernumerary cards. I would like to read more ofher poems. John Donnes poem The Flea makes me feel quite angry because he hasportrayed how some men think that women are objects only for theirown pleasure and that virginity is insignificant and unimportant. Butit did also make me laugh because of how melodramatic he was and howdesperate he was to persuade her that he utilize a flea as an example. Ithink it was a very clever poem and would have certainly entertainedthe audience it was aimed at. He was a very intelligent man and Iwould expect that many of his other poems would be just as witty andinteresting.