In all of poetry there are two of the better writers are Alexander Pope and John Donne. They have opened and defined a new way of writing poetry that people have sought after and patterned after their own work for generations now. In their respective pieces, Donne’s ‘The Flea’ and Pope, ‘ The rape of the lock,’ we see a similarity of ideas that revolve around love but that is where the similarity ends. Both of the writers choose a different path to pursue their goals to reach the prize. Yet within it all there is always the idea that it is a battle of wills between man and woman that all revolves around the same old emotion that drives mankind; ‘love.’
In ‘The Flea’ we see one of the oldest qualities of man, as he is trying to woo his woman in order to get sex. It seems totally absurd in the manner in which the speaker goes about this since he mentions that they are united already without the consummate act of sex. The flea that bit both of them has become their wedding temple. The descriptive manner in which the story is told has charmed and enticed people for such a long time. Even now, many forget what the man is seeking and just look at the comedic romantic format he is displaying his words to his lady love hoping for the love to be returned in the primal act that all humans crave.
In the second stanza, the speaker has moved beyond talking of the flea as enabling their union and has begun to build an entire world within the flea. This world is one in which their physical love is realized, also with mention of marriage vows. But by the end of this stanza, his ladylove has had enough of her suitor's nonsense and threatens to kill the flea. To this, the speaker reacts that killing the flea will carry three sins: murder, for killing his blood; suicide, for killing her own blood. A sacrilege, in going against the union that he deems was meant to be. Throughout all of this the essential thought of the speaker is to achieve the goal he has set out for, yet the romance and words he spins helps to lead the reader through a maze of sweetening thoughts to achieve his prize.
Throughout the poem there is the extended use of metaphor and Donne uses many metaphors throughout the poem, most having to do with the flea itself. One example of this use of metaphor concerning the flea is the line in which he says, "This flea is you and I..." Without comparing the flea to such things as their marriage bed, this suitor would have no line for his lady at all. The metaphors add a comical aspect, for those who have a sense of humor, in that he is able to compare all of these complicated, universal concepts to a flea. As part of Donne's use of metaphors, symbolism is equally important and equally abundant. The use of the flea as a symbol seems to be divided by the stanzas. In the first stanza, the flea is a symbol of the union between this man and woman. In the second stanza, the speaker expands the symbol to make the flea the entire world in which the union of their love physically exists. Finally in the third stanza, after the woman has crushed the flea without another thought, the flea becomes a symbol of the triviality of her concerns that through losing her innocence, she will also lose her honor. Donne uses some imagery throughout the poem such as; the visual imagery that becomes real in the line, "And cloistered in these walls of living jet". This line immediately brings to mind a small, dark, secretive place such as that within the flea. However, imagery is not widely used in this poem, which helps to keep it light, on a superficial level. Without sinking deep into the imagery, the reader is allowed to keep a perspective on what the poem is truly about, a come-on. Of course, in a poem such as this, connotations, specifically sexual connotations, are abundant. Lines such as, "It sucked me first and now sucks thee" or, "And pampered swells with one blood made of two" are words drenched with sexual undertones. The purpose of this use of connotations, if nothing else, is to give the reader insight into the speaker's intentions, and perhaps more accurately, just where his mind is while he is spouting his charm. But through this poem, we see a man who tries to woo a lady, and she being the person she is decides rather not to fall for the advances but rather to seek her own way of ruining this pitiful wooing.
