John Donne

The Flea
THEMES
Erotic love: lines 1-9
Religion and Marriage: lines 10-18
Erotic love and Religion: lines 20-28

Erotic Love
Virginity as a trivial matter
how little that which thou deniest me is
(l. 2)

And this, alas! Is more than we would do'

(l. 9)

Mixed blood (sexual act, family bloodlines)

And pamper'd swells with one blood
made of two
(l. 8)

Religion and
Marriage
Marriage as a sacred union
Our marriage bed, and marriage
temple is.
(l. 13)

Forbidden love
'Though parents grudge, and you, we're
met' (l. 14)

Religion and
Marriage
Lovers out from
the world, inside the flea
'And cloister'd in these living walls of jet
(l. 15)

Flea
she, him and itself (holy trinity)
Killing it
triple sin (murder, suicide, sacrilege)
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three
(ll. 16-18)

Erotic Love and

The woman kills the flea
Religion
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
(ll. 20-21)
Reinstates the triviality of the sexual act
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from
thee.
(ll. 27-28)

Flea

Symbols and
metaphysical
conceit
Images

Mixed Blood
Trinity
Triple sin

union of the lovers

he, she and the flea

kill,self-murder y sacrilege

Inside the flea

lovers outside the world,

temple
Death of the flea

sexual act

Symbols and
Images
Marriage bed
Marriage temple
Blood

Marriage
sacred union

essence of life, union

 3 stanzas

Form

AABBCCDDD each couplet

new idea

Alternates iambic tetrameter with iambic

pentameter. Last couplet is two iambic
pentametres.
Alliteration -s (deniest, suck'd, sucks, this,
bloods, know'st, this, said, sin, loss,
enjoys...) related to the snake as carnal
temptation.

The Sun Rising

The poet complains to the sun for
waking him and his lover up.
Arrogant tone. The poet is better than
the sun.

Rhyme, form and

metric
Line 1, 5 and 6 of each stanza iambic tetrameter
Busy old fool, unruly Sun,

(l.1)

Line 2 dimeter
Why dost thou thus
Rest of the lines iambic pentameter
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? (l. 4)

ABBACDCDEE
mix of Petrarchean and
Shakespearean sonnets.
ABBA
sets up the argument or image.
CDCD
extends the image and provides
proof or answer.
EE
repeats what was previously
stated in a stronger and more memorable
way.

Stanza 1 (lines 1-10)

The poet is angry at the sun because
the morning means the end of the
night with his lover.
Their love is a slave of the sun.
Sun - passage of time. Enemy to
their love.

Stanza 1 (lines 1-10)

Great Chain of Being: every living thing has
a rank in the divine scheme of things.
Everything is subjected to the suns power,
but the couple. The lovers are in the highest
rank.
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will
ride,
Call country ants* to harvest offices.
*Country ants: peasants.

Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime

Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of
time.
List with time-related concepts to emphasize
the fast passing of the time.
Contrast with eternity. His love for her will
never die, no matter how much time passes.

Stanza 2 (lines 1120)

I could eclipse and cloud them with a
wink
(l. 13)
Metaphysical conceit. Surprising image:
eclipse the sun with a wink.

Stanza 2 (lines 1120)

If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late tell me,
(ll. 15-16)
Paradox: if the eyes of the lover have not
blinded the suns eyes, take a look.

Stanza 2 (lines 1120)

Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine

Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay.
(ll. 17-20)
Metaphysical conceit. Surprising image: the whole
world is in the bed.
Room and bed symbol for the world. The world is
the couple.

Stanza 3 (lines 2130)

She's all states, and all princes I;
Nothing else is;
(ll. 21-22)
The couple is everything that exists in
the world. Shes all states and hes all
princes.
Chiasmus reversal of words.

Stanza 3 (lines 2130)

Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.
(ll. 29-30)
World = Room

The sun only needs to shine on

them.
Ptolomeic theory: Earth (=Bed) as the center of the
Universe.

Holly Sonnet XIV

The poet adresses God
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for
you
(l. 1)

The poet wants to get close to his

spirituality
Violent, emotional tone

ABBA ABBA CDCD EE

Note ll. 10 and 12
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot
again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Iambic pentameter with

exceptions
Note L. 1
Batter my heart, three-person'd God,
for you
(l.1)
Stressed syllable at the start
Violence

1st Quatrain
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for
you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek
to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me,
and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make

1st Quatrain
God is being too soft
The poet wants destruction and reconstruction
God, as a craftsman, can remake him.

Behold, as the clay is in the potters

hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of
Israel
Jeremiah 18: 4-6

2nd Quatrain
I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should
defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or
untrue.

2nd Quatrain
Conceit: Poet as a town
Who usurped the poet? Who keeps
his reason captive?
- Devil, evil
- Terrenal life
Unability to let God in

3rd Quatrain +
Couplet

Quatrain + couplet in rhyme

CDCD EE
Sestet in syntax.
Turn. The tone changes.
The conceit changes
Town

Groom

3rd Quatrain +
Couplet
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

3rd Quatrain +
Couplet
Sexual connotations
Paradoxes
Insecurity
Repeated situation?

Holly Sonnet XIV

Conclusion
Arrogant, straight-forward tone
Desperation and violence
The poet wants God to help him
Conflict reason spirituality, body
soul.
Sacred vs Profane love

Metaphysical
The Flea Conceits
The bed as the world
The sun eclipsed by a wink
The usurped town
The bridegroom

Religious spiritualism
and erotic amorousness
When writing about love, Donne makes
continuous references to religion and
marriage. Love becomes a sacred union,
almost a way to salvation.
When writing about religion, Donne makes his
relationship with God sound like a romantic
one, keeping the masculine, erotic tone.

Religious spiritualism
and erotic amorousness
In this three poems, egocentrism is a
key element. The poetic voice is always
asking for something to an apostrophe.
Therefore, masculinity is always
present.
The general impression is that Donne
feels more comfortable with erotic
amorousness.

Symbols to advance
themes
Combination of religious and profane
symbols
Argumentative poems
Each symbol usually introduces a new
argument

DONNE VS
ELIZABETHANS
Donne's metric doesn't follow any
specific rules. It usually doesn't respect
the iambic pentameter or the number
of syllables that a sonnet was supposed
to have.

DONNE VS
ELIZABETHANS

Donne's look at love is more physical

than the Elizabethan's, which was more
of a platonic, courtly love.
In Donnes poems, the lady is present in
the setting when the poet is talking
about her.