When was the flea by john donne written

In the flea, he says, where their blood is mingled, they are almost married—no, more than married—and the flea is their marriage bed and marriage temple mixed into one.

Though their parents grudge their romance and though she will not make love to him, they are nevertheless united and cloistered in the living walls of the flea. This flea is a comical and complex figure. So is the speaker, a suitor well aware of the contrivance, exaggeration and contradiction of his ingenious but wobbly argument. Major issues are minimised, minor ones overblown. You might think the poet imagines the creature as a God-sized penis.

But Donne has the science of the day to some extent on his side: conception was thought to occur through the mingling of the blood of man and woman. Holy matrimony has become a flea-shaped cathedral.

Biography of John Donne — A detailed biography of Donne, with a close attention to the development of his poetry, from the Poetry Foundation. A Brief Guide to the Metaphysical Poets — A brief guide to the group of 17th century poets known as the "metaphysicals"—among whom Donne was a leading figure. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. Death, be not proud. No Man Is an Island. Song: Go and catch a falling star.

The Good-Morrow. The Sun Rising. The Triple Fool. To His Mistress Going to Bed. Two trochees start the first and second lines, giving strong emphasis to those first syllables, establishing Cruel and Purpled as vital ingredients in this final stanza. Note the spondee in line 21 and the rhythmic anapaests in line 22 in that drop which it sucked. Iambic feet in lines 23,24 but normality we suspect is hardly restored? A spondee ends line 25 - strong energy involved here as the speaker makes his point.

Then iambic calm returns with just that final spondee midway through the end line to remind the reader that the flea is dead and with it the speaker's hope? Marine Biology. Electrical Engineering. Computer Science. Medical Science. Writing Tutorials. Performing Arts. Visual Arts. Student Life. Vocational Training. Standardized Tests. Online Learning. Social Sciences. Legal Studies.

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