John Donne

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)

Donne pursues a different route, attempting to capture the immediacy of Ovid's poems of frantic lust, or Juvenal's patrician scorn for the dirt and squalor of the city. When Donne uses a theme familiar from Latin poetry, he emphasizes its urgent significance as a motif spoken by a lover in the heat of the moment, designed for short-term gain in the speaker's life, but undoubtedly having rather longer-term significance in the life of the reader. "The Flea," for example, belongs to an extensive genre of poems in which the lover describes an animal that is able to explore his beloved's body to which he is denied access, such as Catullus's famous poem about his mistress's sparrow, which ends with the lament, "Would I could play with you as she does / And lighten the spirit's gloomy cares!" (2, lines 9-10). But the most obvious precursor is a medieval poem attributed to Ovid, which inspired a number of lyrics written throughout Europe about fleas which could reach parts the would-be lovers were not allowed to touch. (Hadfield 50)

It has been argued that Donne plays on the confusion of the letters "f" and "s" in early modern texts in line 3, relating the natural action of the flea to the natural action that the man would like to perform with the woman. Even if this reading is mistaken, the stanza is replete with sexual references. There is extensive play on the mingling of blood, the exchange of bodily fluids, as well as the speaker's hint that his aroused state must be obvious to the lady: "pamper'd swells with one blood made of two" clearly does not refer simply to the flea after its meal. We understand that the speaker's desire for sexual contact is such that he finds it difficult to be delayed in his designs, hence the urgency of his words. (Hadfield 51)

Is "The Flea," for example, a nicer Loves Alchymie, a seduction poem of a lady who does not have that much honor to lose, the last line a bit of a sneer? Or is it a serious seduction poem addressing the woman he will soon wed "though parents grudge," and, since they love each other, honor is not the issue? (Herz 104)

"Wit" and its figure the "metaphysical conceit," that is the unexpected, indeed the unlikely, metaphor, the comparison just this side of catachresis, are terms that occur in all discussions of Donne's style. (Herz 105)

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;		Did not find neither yourself nor me any weaker
'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;	25
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,		Such a little honor, when you surrender to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.		Will be lost, the same way that none of your life is lost when the flea dies.

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
'John Donne: The Reformed Soul' by John Stubbs (review of biography)
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)

Hadfield, Andrew. "Literary Contexts: Predecessors and Contemporaries." The Cambridge Companion to John Donne. Ed. Achsah Guibbory. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 49-64.

Herz, Judith Scherer. "Reading and Rereading Donne's Poetry." The Cambridge Companion to John Donne. Ed. Achsah Guibbory. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 101-15.

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.

Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex, holding a flea fur or tippet in her left hand. This ornament, usually made of sable and has a decorated head shaped like an animal's, is believed to attract fleas. This oil on panel painting by an unknown artist was done sometime around 1570-1575.