The Flea
Marke but this flea, and marke in this,How little that which thou deny'st me is;It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,And in this flea, our two bloods mingled bee;Thou know'st that this cannot be saidA sinne, nor shame, nor losse of maidenhead,Yet this enjoyes before it wooe,And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two,And this, alas, is more then wee would doe.
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,Where wee almost, yea more then maryed are.This flea is you and I, and thisOur mariage bed, and mariage temple is;Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,And cloysterd in these living walls of Jet.Though use make you apt to kill mee,Let not to that, selfe murder added bee,And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.
Cruell and sodaine, hast thou sincePurpled thy naile, in blood of innocence?Wherein could this flea guilty bee,Except in that drop which it suckt from thee?Yet thou triumph'st, and saist that thouFind'st not thy selfe, nor mee the weaker now;'Tis true, then learne how false, feares bee;Just so much honor, when thou yeeld'st to mee,Will wast, as this flea's death tooke life from thee.
it at beginning of Songs and Sonets: The Flea. or no title,
Words in this poem
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
- losse n.
- Praise. See Loos.
- maidenhead n.
- The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity. [See Maidenhood.]
- cruell a.
- Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Flea is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Donne, The Flea, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-flea.html, id L04894.
Form and metre
The Flea is 28 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AABB--- this · is · theeA · beeA · saidB · maidenheadB · wooe · two · doe
- 2 ----AABBB spare · are · this · is · metA · jetA · meeB · beeB · threeB
- 3 AABBCCBBB sinceA · innocenceA · beeB · theeB · thouC · nowC · beeB · meeB · theeB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Marke but this flea, and marke in this, | 8 | ········ |
| How little that which thou deny'st me is; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, | 8 | ········ |
| And in this flea, our two bloods mingled bee; | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| Thou know'st that this cannot be said | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| A sinne, nor shame, nor losse of maidenhead, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Yet this enjoyes before it wooe, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And this, alas, is more then wee would doe. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, | 8 | ········ |
| Where wee almost, yea more then maryed are. | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| This flea is you and I, and this | 8 | ········ |
| Our mariage bed, and mariage temple is; | 10 | /······/˘· |
| Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And cloysterd in these living walls of Jet. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Though use make you apt to kill mee, | 8 | ········ |
| Let not to that, selfe murder added bee, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three. | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Cruell and sodaine, hast thou since | 8 | /˘······ |
| Purpled thy naile, in blood of innocence? | 11 | /˘······/˘˘ |
| Wherein could this flea guilty bee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Except in that drop which it suckt from thee? | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet thou triumph'st, and saist that thou | 7 | ······· |
| Find'st not thy selfe, nor mee the weaker now; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Tis true, then learne how false, feares bee; | 8 | ········ |
| Just so much honor, when thou yeeld'st to mee, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Will wast, as this flea's death tooke life from thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| it at beginning of Songs and Sonets: The Flea. or no title, | 16 | ··˘/˘···/˘····/˘ |
Notes from the edition 6
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Stanza 1, line 5 Thou know'st that 1633-54, D, H49, Lec: Confess it. This cannot be said 1669, A18, A25, B, Cy, H40, L74, N, O'F, P, S, S96, TC
- Stanza 1, line 6 nor shame, nor losse 1633-54 (shame 1633), D, H49, Lec: or shame, or loss 1669, A18, A25, B, Cy, H40, L74, N, O'F, P, TC
- Stanza 1, line 9 would] could 1669
- Stanza 2, line 7 you] thee A18, Cy, N, O'F, S, S96, TC
- Stanza 3, line 3 Wherein] In what A18, A25, B, Cy, L74, N, O'F, S, S96, TC
- Stanza 3, line 4 drop] blood 1669
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.