The Flea Flashcards
What is the poem about?
A man is convincing a woman to have sex with him in an elaborate conceit of comparing their love to a flea.
In the first stanza, he is presenting his argument to the woman
In the second stanza, the woman has clearly made an action to kill the flea
In the third stanza, she kills it, and he is saying that if she doesn’t feel bad about that why should she feel bad about sex?
The three stanzas have references to the holy trinity and refers to the three lives inside the flea. There are also the triplets at the end of the stanzas to continue this theme
What kind of poem is it?
Metaphysical poem with an obvious and strange conceit of the flea compared to their love
It has syllogistic language in some places: ‘yet, alas, though’
The stanzas are split into one sestet (three rhyming couplets), and then a triplet where all the lines rhyme- which acts as a conclusion to the sestet argument. Caesura is used at the end of sestets so that the reader is left to think about it. The couplets have enjambment between them to reflect the fluidity of the argument and how thought through it is.
Last two lines are physically longer to show the last part being longstanding
What is the rhythm of the poem?
Iambic tetrameter - regularity to reflect his ongoing asking of her, routine
This is apart from the last two lines of the triplets which are in iambic pentameter- reinforces what he is saying and goes on a bit longer - methodical argument
What can be said about the use of caesura and enjambment in the flea?
-caesura at the end of the sestets, left to think about the offer. Emphasis
‘Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas is more than we can do.’
- ‘yet’ and ‘alas’ is an example of syllogistic language
- ‘pampered swells’ refers to a flea bite, but also implies his penis. The sex is only about his enjoyment, not her.
- ‘is more than we could do’ hint of jealousy, irony that he is jealous of a flea. Mockery of love poems
‘O stay, three lives in one flea spare,’
- she is voiceless but her actions are seen in this second stanza, a response is finally seen
- ‘three lives’ refers to religion and the holy trinity. He is implying that it isn’t more sinful to kill this flea then to have sex, or even it is more sinful not to have sex as you are taking for granted the life that god gave you. If she killed the flea she may be killing a part of God’
‘Our marraige bed, and our marraige temple is;’
Clear conceit, refers to this shielded, hard to crush flea as being symbolic of their relationship (they’ve already had ‘sex’ so they may as well be married). Hyperbolic.
The caesura ‘;’, he is keeping that image, making it simmer as their marraige would be a good thing
‘Though parents grudge, and you, we’are met
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.’
-‘ ,and you,’ is in parenthesis, she is an afterthought, implies how women were treated. She has little choice or influence.
- ‘cloistered in these living walls of jet.’ Jet is very black and hard, he is saying that this cosy flea is a worthy and safe vessel of their love. Ironic because in the next stanza she kills it
‘Let not to that, self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.’
-‘self-murder’ laying on this idea of sinning so that she feels guilty. References to a greater sin makes having sex not so bad
References to three evokes the trinity, repeated three times in the stanza.
‘Hast thou since purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?’
Purple is a royal, expensive colour. The flea was their love with had so much value. Also could refer to he ‘divine right’ of kings, and that she just killed gods blood.
He defends the flee and cares and respects it more than he ever has for this woman
The question marks show that he now has no argument and is confused what to argue next
‘Yet thou triumph’st’
‘Yet’ is syllogistic
‘Triumph’ refers to this as a game or a sport - sex is a battle to win from the woman then an affection of love’
‘Finest not thyself, nor me, the weaker now;
This true; then learn how false fears be;’
Three ‘;’, reference to threes again, sins. Also shows cockiness, he is building up his argument, emphasising every word.
The is saying ‘then learn how false fears be’ that having sex is no more sinful than killing the flea and that if she feels no remorse for the flea, she would feel the same about sex. But he did say how significant the flea was, she is going to destroy her connection to god in the same way
‘Just so much honour when though yields to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee’
He is saying that she will only lose the same honour as when she did when she killed the flea
- ‘when’ shows that men have the ultimate power over the woman even after everything she does, his argument will continue and she will eventually give in
- the last word of the poem is ‘thee’ which is very close to three, which refers to the references of the trinity. It said it took life from thee. Her connection with the trinity and god is destroyed and incomplete. Sinning
