Better Late Than Never

I missed a couple blog postings earlier in the quarter, so I am going to do them now:

Originally Due: Thursday, 1/22

John Donne, "The Flea"

"The Flea" is a poem about a love affair, or maybe more like a wanted love affair. In the poem, the speaker seems to envy a flea for being able to be familiar with the object of his desire, an unnamed woman. To the speaker, it is unfair that this insect is able to have intimate knowledge of the one he loves, while the speaker himself is unable to touch her in any way. In a way, however, the flea is something of a spectacle to the speaker, because in the flea, the blood of both himself and the one he loves can "mingle." To the speaker this is enough for the two to be "more than married." The speaker goes on to be in a state of confusion or depression when he further explores the situation. As he sees it, if he were to have sex with the woman he desires, no more damage would be done to her image or honor than if the flea were to die.

I initially found the use of a flea as an object of love to be pretty different, until I noticed the note in the book that it was commonly found in Renaissance poetry. This is interesting to me, because I have never thought to use insects as something to be admired or envied, only a dirty or unwanted things. Because of this, I was initially expecting the poem to speak towards love with negative connotations, but quite the opposite was true. While the imagery and symbolism of blood-sucking insects does not usually bring about ideas of love, the way Donne uses it in "The Flea" is superb and effective.