Linda's Literary Home

Tag: conceit

  • John Donne’s “The Flea”

    Image: John Donne Portrait Unknown Artist – National Portrait Gallery, London

    John Donne’s “The Flea”

    John Donne’s “The Flea” is a seduction poem in which the speaker concocts a clever but outrageous notion to persuade his lady friend to engage with him in coitus.  This poem exemplifies Donne’s earlier work that contrasts with his later spiritual works including the Holy Sonnets.

    Introduction with Text of “The Flea”

    John Donne’s “The Flea” represents the subject matter that engaged the poet early on in his life.   Donne continues with similar exploits in other seduction poems such as “The Apparition,” “The Indifferent,” and “The Bait,” which is one of many replies to Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.”

    After Donne decided to forsake the wild side of life and settle into the spiritual life of a preacher, he composed amazing spiritual poetry most notable in the Holy Sonnets. The speaker in John Donne’s “The Flea” uses a twisted kind of reasoning, saying that his blood and that of his lady friend mingling in the flea’s body is not considered “a sin, nor shame” and not loss of virginity. 

    This speaker is dramatizing his clever notion that if he and his sweetheart have intercourse, they would also cause bodily fluids to “mingle” which would be less than the mingling of their blood in the flea.  

    The speaker wants his girlfriend to accept his logic that they have essentially already engaged in coitus by allowing the flea to conjoin their blood.  This type of extended metaphor is labeled a conceit, and the Metaphysical Poets are most known for employing that literary device.

    The Flea

    Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
    How little that which thou deniest me is;
    It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
    And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
    Thou know’st that this cannot be said
    A sin, nor shame, nor 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. 

    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 mariage bed, and marriage temple is; 
    Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met, 
    And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
        Though use make you apt to kill me,
        Let not to that, self-murder added be,
        And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. 

    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;v
        ’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:
        Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
        Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

    Commentary on “The Flea”

    This seduction poem features the unique employment of the conceit, or extended metaphor, of a flea sucking blood.  The speaker creates an absurd scenario regarding the blood-sucking flea and the blood of the pair of lovers.

    First Stanza:  The Prick of a Flea-Bite

    Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
    How little that which thou deniest me is;
    It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
    And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
    Thou know’st that this cannot be said
    A sin, nor shame, nor 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.

    In the first stanza of John Donne’s “The Flea,” the speaker asks the woman to think about how little and insignificant would be the loss of her virginity. He compares it to the prick of a fleabite.  He then announces that first the flea bit him and then it bit her, both times sucking out some of their blood, which means that their blood is “mingl[ing]” in the flea’s body.

    The speaker then uses a twisted kind of reasoning, saying that their blood mingling in the flea’s body is not considered “a sin, nor shame” and not loss of virginity.  Yet if they had intercourse, they would also cause bodily fluids to “mingle” and that is less than the mingling of blood in the flea.   The speaker wants the girl to accept his reasoning that they have essentially already had sex by allowing the flea to cause their bloods to conjoin.

    Second Stanza:  A Venture in Absurdity

    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 mariage bed, and marriage temple is; 
    Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met, 
    And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
        Though use make you apt to kill me,
        Let not to that, self-murder added be,
        And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

    The woman starts to whack the flea, but the speaker stops her and then begins another report of absurdity, likening the flea bite to their having engaged in coitus.  He audaciously groans, begging her not to smash the flea, after all because of that insect they are now “more than married.”   He implores her to spare the three lives. The three lives now living in the flea, of course, are the speaker, the woman, and the flea itself.

    And since they are, in the speaker’s warped reckoning, having sex in the flea’s body, they are, in fact, more married than ever, although they are obviously not married at all.  The speaker claims metaphorically that the flea has become their “marriage bed, and marriage temple.”

    The speaker then dramatizes her attempt to kill the flea by calling her act “self-murder” and “sacrilege” and that she would acquire “three sins in killing three.”  He exaggerates that if she kills the flea, she will be killing not only herself, but also the speaker and the flea.  The lad seems to have become quite desperate.

    Third Stanza: Specious Claim

    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;v
        ’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:
        Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
        Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

    The woman does not fall for the specious claims made by her would-be seducer as she suddenly squashes the flea, which squirts the blood on her fingers.  The speaker acts alarmed that she could be so cruel and that she would be so careless as not to follow the logic of surrendering to him sexually.

    The woman has thrown his logic back in his face by remarking that they are not dead even though the flea is. And while the speaker has to concede that point, he then moves on to another point by turning the argument on her. 

    He says in effect, by killing the flea, she can realize how useless fears are.  She should not fear loss of her honor if she gives in and surrenders her virginity to him.   He argues that the amount of honor she will lose is just the same amount of blood the flea took from her.  He apparently knows the amount of blood a woman’s broken hymen sheds after first experiencing coitus.

  • John Donne’s “The Apparition”

    Image: John Donne Portrait Unknown Artist – National Portrait Gallery, London

    John Donne’s “The Apparition”

    John Donne’s “The Apparition” is similar in theme to his more famous poem, “The Flea.”  “The Apparition” offers a stunningly original metaphor (conceit) for a poem of seduction; the speaker claims that his ghost will haunt the lady if she does not give in to his pleas.

    Introduction with Text of “The Apparition”

    John Donne’s seventeen-line poem, “The Apparition” offers up the rime scheme of ABBABCDCDCEFFGGG.  Similar thematically to “The Flea,” this poem dramatizes the exploits that young men have used to seduce young women over the centuries.  The originality of this shocking strategy for a seduction poem is, however, quite fascinating and definitely unique.

    The Apparition

    When by thy scorn, O murd’ress, I am dead
             And that thou think’st thee free
    From all solicitation from me,
    Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,
    And thee, feign’d vestal, in worse arms shall see;
    Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,
    And he, whose thou art then, being tir’d before,
    Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think
             Thou call’st for more,
    And in false sleep will from thee shrink;
    And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou
    Bath’d in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie
             A verier ghost than I.
    What I will say, I will not tell thee now,
    Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,
    I’had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,
    Than by my threat’nings rest still innocent.

    Commentary on “The Apparition”

    John Donne’s earlier poems contained a number of seduction pieces employing the Metaphysical conceit style.  His ability to engage fascinating conceits remains a unique accomplishment in the field of letters.

    One of his most outrageous and fascinating seduction strategies appears in “The Apparition.”  The absolute depravity involved in this poem contrasts mightily with Donne’s later spiritual works, as exemplified by the Holy Sonnets.  However, Donne’s melancholic physical decay as bemoaned in the Holy Sonnets follows karmically from his earlier behavior that resulted in his seduction poems.

    First Movement:  Murder by Abstinence

    When by thy scorn, O murd’ress, I am dead
             And that thou think’st thee free
    From all solicitation from me,
    Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,

    The speaker labels the young lady a murderer for refusing to satisfy his lust. The notion that not giving in to his sexual urges will kill a man has remained an ignorant superstition since the Renaissance era and quite likely even earlier.

    The speaker employs this absurd notion, anticipating that the young woman will be exploitable and therefore accept his ludicrous drivel.  Therefore, he labels her a murderer because he is “dying” to have sex with her.

    The speaker has obviously tried more than once to seduce this lady, but thus far she has succeeded in evading his advances.  Therefore, he cooks up this ghost/murder scheme, attempting to lure her to his bed.  He is insisting that she is killing him now, but his ghost will haunt and perhaps kill her later.

    After the speaker has died, his target lady will, at first, think she is free of him and his constant urgings.  However, he lets her know that his urges are so strong that even his neutered ghost will appear to her to continue his desired ravishment.

    Second Movement:  No Investment in Virginity

    And thee, feign’d vestal, in worse arms shall see;
    Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,
    And he, whose thou art then, being tir’d before,
    Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think
             Thou call’st for more,
    And in false sleep will from thee shrink;

    The clever, though mightily deluded, speaker then flings at the woman the term “feign’d vestal.” He is not, however, shaming her for not being a virgin.  He has no investment in virginity, hers, his, or anyone else’s.

    The speaker is merely insulting her intelligence again, asserting that she is pretending.  He is convinced that she will not remain a virgin, as the original Roman Vestal Virgin priestesses did for thirty years.  

    He assumes that it logically follows that if she does not remain a virgin, she should not worry about her virginal status now that she has this coitus-ready fellow before her raging to get his member into her nether region.

    Therefore, after she has seen his ghost, after she has killed him, she will be sore afraid.  She will try to awaken her sleeping bed partner, who will fail to pay any attention to her.  The bed partner will have been worn out from earlier love-making and merely think she wants it again.  Thus he will just slough her off.  This speaker’s penchant for the gross and obnoxious knows no bounds.

    Third Movement:  Sweaty Ghost Fear

    And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou
    Bath’d in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie
             A verier ghost than I.
    What I will say, I will not tell thee now,
    Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,
    I’had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,
    Than by my threat’nings rest still innocent.

    The speaker finally makes the prediction that the object of his lust will transform into a “poor aspen wretch.”  She will turn pale from the fear of this poor wastrel’s ghost; thus, she will be “Bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat.” She will become all sweaty because of her fear of the ghost, the “Apparition.”

    The speaker reports to her that the words his ghost will utter to her when the time comes will make her even more fearful.  He refuses to tell her now what he will say.  He wants the shock and awe value to be greater later at the time they occur.  

    He figures that if he told her now, she could somehow steel herself, and the shock value would be lost.  We want her to suffer mightily for not letting him relieve his lust at the expense of her virginity.