In “The Flea” (1633), a flea crawls over a pair of would-be lovers, biting and drawing blood from both. Images are in the public domain. View Full Essay. About this essay More essays like this: Not sure what I'd do without @Kibin - Alfredo Alvarez, student @ Miami University. The literal meaning of the poem is about a little flea who, sucks blood from the speaker and his beloved which gives the speaker courage to reason with his beloved about sex. In addition, the flea is a symbol of the marriage bed and marriage temple (the human body being a temple of the Holy Spirit according to Paul in the bible, Corinthians 1). The flea has already “cloister’d” them within its body’s “walls of jet” (line 15, possibly also suggesting that they are alone together in a dark room). If flea has come into your life, it might be time to retreat into shelter, and take stock of your life. He claims that what this flea has done has intertwined them already and therefore the actual act of sex would not be considered sinful. That the flea represents “three lives” — Donne, Anne, and the flea itself — comically elevates the bugger to a sort of Holy Trinity. Metaphor - Line 12 contains a direct comparison: “This flea is you and I.” The next metaphor runs into line 13: “and this / our marriage bed and marriage temple is,” meaning the mingling of the blood is the act that consummates a marriage. The man first starts by addressing their unity within the flea. References. Symbolism of the Flea. The Flea Symbols & Objects John Donne This Study Guide consists of approximately 12 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Flea. “The Flea.” In the public domain. “This flea is you and I,” the flea has both of their blood inside it. - Jenna Kraig, student @ … Exactly what I needed. A flea is a powerhouse of life force and glowing determination. The woman’s disdain for him and his suit becomes more apparent as he claims she is “apt” to kill him (line 16), following her habit of … Donne, John. The poet alludes that, through the flea’s bites, the “three person’d” Christian God Later in life, after Anne More’s death, John Donne converted to the Church of … This is symbolic to the holy trinity, which can have a variety of meaning to different believers of faith in God. “It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be (Donne 517)”. Marriage is also one of the seven Catholic sacraments so to kill the flea would be an act of sacrilege, violation. Chloe McKee English 112- Formal Essay 1 February 28, 2011 Morals, Personality and True Identity Ironic Symbolism is used to define the conflicts within “The Flea” by John Donne and “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H Auden by having a significant object, which is a flea and a monument, which represent a conflict that is portrayed throughout the poem. Also, their supposed marriage is an extended metaphor which stems from the pun on two kinds of blood: literal blood and family relations. As the speaker imagines it, the blood of the pair has become intermingled, and thus the two should become sexually involved, since they are already married in the body of the flea. 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