John Donne

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me;
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,	5
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,	10
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die.

5–6 From rest and sleep...more must flow: since much pleasure flows from rest and sleep, which are only pictures of death, then much more pleasure must flow from death itself. (Smith 630)

7 soonest our best men with thee do go: (a) the best men die young; (b) good men make least fuss in dying (see "A Valediction: forbidding mourning" 1–4) (Smith 630)

8 Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery: death is a rest of their bodies and a birth or liberation of their souls. (Smith 630)

14 Death thou shalt die: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death....Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians XV 26, 54). (Smith 630)

The Sun Rising: Love poets traditionally invoked the sun or the dawn, and Ovid and Petrarch offer celebrated examples (Amores I. xiii; Almo sol, Canzoniere 188). But these morning songs commonly address their subject with reverence as a flushed young goddess or a life-giving god.

At least two of the most famous of the "Songs and Sonnets" must belong to the early years of Donne's married life, and the possibility that some of the others come from the same period is strong. Both "The Sunne Rising" and "The Canonization" must from internal evidence have been written in the reign of James...It is possible, then, that these two poems express some of the moods of the early years of his marriage. (Bald 146, 147)

7 court-huntsmen: sycophantic courtiers who hunt office by falling in with the monarch's enthusiasms, in this case early morning stag-chasing. King James's passion for the sport was a byword, and the references indicates that the poem was written when he was on the English throne, that is, after 1603.

"Goe tell Court-huntsmen, that the King will ride" alludes, of course, to James's well-known love of the chase (Bald 146–47)

8 country ants to harvest offices: slavish farmers to the routines of harvesting

"Harvest" may be read both as part of a noun phrase ("duties of the harvest," in which case "country ants" would refer to farm workers) and as a verb, in which case the "ants" would be provincial courtiers seeking to collect ("harvest") paid positions. (Norton 296)

10 rags of time: our divisions or changes of time, as against the timeless conditions which is the true reality known to God. See "The Anniversary" 9–10.

12 Why shouldst thou think?: what makes you think your light is so awesome? (Norton 296)

17 both th' Indias of spice and mine: the East Indies and the West Indies, one of them the great repository of spice and the other of gold.

25 Thou sun art half as happy as we: because the sun is single whereas either lover enjoys the other's happiness.

30 This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere: the bed is the earth around which the sun is to revolve, and the walls mark the limit of his revolution. The sun, as the source of sexual vigour and of life, is invited to focus all his powers on the activity of the lovers.

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deny'st me is;
Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be;
Confess it, this cannot be said	5
A sin, or shame, or 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,	10
Where we almost, nay more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, we'are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.	15
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to this, self murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?	20
In what 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 thyself, nor me the weaker now;
'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;	25
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

The Flea: The flea was a popular subject of Renaissance erotic poems in which, frequently, the narrator envies the flea for the liberties it takes with his lady and for its death at her hands (both die and kill were Renaissance slang terms for orgasm; the act of sexual intercourse was believed to reduce the man's life span). The narrator here addresses a woman who has scorned his advances. (Norton 309)

This poem was given first of the Songs and Sonnets in early editions from 1635 on. It is sometimes said to have been one of the most celebrated of Donne's poems in the poet's own day, but the only evidence of its popularity is Grierson's reference to some admirers of a Dutch translation of the poem.

Ribald love poems on fleas proliferated in the sixteenth century, in emulation of a medieval piece ascribed to Ovid. The poet commonly envied the flea's free access to his mistress's body, or its death by her hand at the climax of its bliss. (Smith 376)

3 thee: objective case of thou (Webster's Third New International Dictionary 2369)

4 our two bloods mingled be: coition was commonly assumed to entail a mingling of bloods, a notion derived from Aristotle. (Smith 376)

6 loss of maidenhead: loss of virginity; the maidenhead is the hymen. (Norton 310)

7 Yet this enjoys before it woo: the flea enjoys this liberty without the effort of wooing the lady. (Norton 310)

8 And pampered swells with one blood made of two: Renaissance medical theory held that blood was mingled during sexual intercourse, leading to conception; thus the image of swelling suggests pregnancy. (Norton 310)

15 jet: black marble; the "living walls of jet" here refer to the body of the flea. (Norton 310)

18 sacrilege: since the flea is a "marriage temple," killing it would be sacrilege. (Norton 310)

19 hast: archaic past 2nd-person singular of HAVE (Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1018)

24 thyself: archaic: yourself (Webster's Third New International Dictionary 2389)

Stanza I: Look at this flea and look at how little the thing that you denied me is. It sucked me first and now sucks you and in this flea our two bloods are mingled. Admit it that this cannot be called a sin, a shame, or loss of virginity. Yet the flea enjoys before it courts and having been indulged, swells with one blood made of two, and this, sadly, is more than we would do.

Stanza II: Oh, stop, spare three lives in one flea where we are almost, nay more than married.

Stanza III: Cruel and sudden, you have purpled your nail in innocent blood. What is this flea guilty of, except in that drop (of blood) that it sucked from you?

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,		See this flea and see this:
How little that which thou deny'st me is;		How little the thing that you denied me is
Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee,		The flea sucked me first and now sucks you
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be;		And in this flea our two bloods are mingled
Confess it, this cannot be said	5	Admit it that this cannot be called
A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead,		A sin or shame or loss of virginity
Yet this enjoys before it woo,		Yet this flea enjoys before it courts
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,		And having thus indulged itself
And this, alas is more than we would do.		And this after all is more than we would do.

Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,	10	Oh stop, spare three lives in one flea
Where we almost, nay more than married are.		Where we are almost, no, more, than married.
This flea is you and I, and this		This flea is you and I and also
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;		Our marriage bed and marriage temple;
Though parents grudge, and you, we'are met,		Despite (your? our?) parents' and your disapproval
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.	15	And sheltered in the living body of this flea.
Though use make you apt to kill me,		Though habit makes you want to kill me
Let not to this, self murder added be,		Don't add self murder to this
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.		And sacrilege as well in killing three beings.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since		Cruel and sudden, have you since
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?	20	Purpled your nail, in innocent blood?
In what could this flea guilty be,		What is this flea guilty of
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?		Except in having sucked that drop of blood from you?
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou		Yet you won and said that you
Find'st not thyself, nor me the weaker now;
'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;	25
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,		tetrameter
How little that which thou deny'st me is;		pentameter
Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee,		tetrameter
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be;		pentameter
Confess it, this cannot be said	5	tetrameter
A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead,		pentameter
Yet this enjoys before it woo,		tetrameter
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,		pentameter
And this, alas is more than we would do.		pentameter

Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,	10	tetrameter
Where we almost, nay more than married are.		pentameter
This flea is you and I, and this		tetrameter
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;		pentameter
Though parents grudge, and you, we'are met,		tetrameter
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.	15	pentameter
Though use make you apt to kill me,		tetrameter
Let not to this, self murder added be,		pentameter
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.		pentameter

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since		tetrameter
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?	20	pentameter
In what could this flea guilty be,		tetrameter
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?		pentameter
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou		tetrameter
Find'st not thyself, nor me the weaker now;		pentameter
'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;	25	tetrameter
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,		pentameter
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.		pentameter

John Donne

John Donne (bio, poems)
John Donne Society's Online Forum
Bald, R. C. John Donne: A Life. 1970. Oxford: Clarendon, 1986. (the standard life; CL 821.3 D175B)
The Cambridge Companion to John Donne. Ed. Achsah Guibbory. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. (CL 821.3 C178)
Enright, D. J., ed. John Donne. London: Orion, 1997. (Arts PR2246 J65)
Gross, Kenneth. "John Donne's Lyric Skepticism: In Strange Way." Modern Philology 101.3 (2004): 371-99. (pdf full text available to Academic Search Complete subscribers)
Partridge, A. C. John Donne: Language and Style. London: Andre Deutsch, 1978. (CL 821.3 D685P)

The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York: Norton, 2005.

Smith, A. J. ed. John Donne: The Complete English Poems. 1971. London: Penguin, 1986. ("The Sun Rising" Notes taken from 402-3)

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, and Seven Language Dictionary. 1961. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1981.