The Flea by John Donne Essay -- The Flea John Donne Songs and Sonnets

The Flea by John DonneThe Flea, a witty poem of seduction and conceitedness, taken from JohnDonnes Songs and Sonets is the poem that I charter chosen to compareto Song, another poem of John Donnes where he is passionatelypleading with his wife not to be disheartened slightly his departureabroad. Both poems which belong to Songs and Sonets, written around thetime of the 16th century, show that their title suggests they are bothshort poems, following the traditional embodiment of a sonnet, consisting offourteen lines. However, they are not songs in the conventionalsense we think of and none of them are written as a sonnet. In fact,Donnes poems were intended for circulation around his local pub,Lincolns Inn, where he could impress his male friends with hisbawdy poetic nature. The Flea, emphatically rejects the Petrarchan tradition of lovepoetry, where the fair sex is seen as a goddess, an object of desireworth worshipping by a gay. Instead, Donne wrote poems that saw theearthy r eality of sexual relations between a man and woman. The poem,whose historical convention probably started with Ovid, shows that itwas common in Elizabethan times to envy a flea for its access to thefemale body. Donne throughout the poem makes references to the flea,presenting a conceit produced of wit, integrity and persuasion.The title, which presents the conceit, is in fact the structure of thepoem, the entire poem depends on this conceit. At first, this is apuzzling image to the reader, it seems bizarre and inappropriate. However, as the poem continues, Donnes argument does also, and we seehow reality is conveyed by the vivid imagery of the flea. Donne usesa three-part syllogism in this poem whic... ...while, they will always have each other in each others hearts, andthat they will never really be parted. His final argument ofpersuasion is that they dont really need the bodily presence, aslong as there is the matter of trust then he will return to her oncemore. Overall, by the structure and language employ in Song, the poem isvery consoling and reassuring. Compared to The Flea, it is verydifferent as the respect for the women the two poems are written fordiffer enormously. Indeed both poems are extremely clever andlogical, with well thought out ideas for argument and persuasion, andare full of wit and clever analogies. However, Song shows adifferent look to John Donnes character than The Flea presents, heappears more softer and respectful, consoling and loving than when heappears bawdy and obscene, shallow and disrespectful.