It's late for me, having had the busiest weekend in a while, so this will be short. Today's poem will be The Flea by John Donne.
This is a poem that is a come-on by one sexual partner (at least he wants it be so) to another. It's very funny and it's very persuasive. It's also very smooth. Which again, is kind of funny. You would just not expect someone to make this kind of argument in a poem.
And not just any poem, but one that is this stylistically of quality. One that was written centuries ago. One that is this full of religious references. ("three lives in one flea spare" definitely refers to the Holy Trinity.)
It's one smooth, slick package.
Favorite line: "Me it suck'd first, and now sucks thee,/And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee"
Sunday, September 27, 2009
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This is an example of a type of poem, the "seduction poem". Very popular in Donne's time. Later he turned religious, and has some wonderful religious poems.
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