John Donne

Essentially, John Donne is a playa. I respect a lot of his work due to the complexity, and amazingness of his poems, however, it seems like he needs to let out a bit of sexual frustration. Maybe his poems are a way for him to relieve some of those feelings. In the thee poems by John Donne that we have discussed, The Flea, The Broken Heart, and The Sun Rising, there is a parallel subject in all three: love and sex. Sex is more prevalent in Donne’s works, especially in The Flea and The Rising Sun.

In both poems, the true meaning is hidden behind a complex web of metaphors, and is not forthright with the theme. The Flea is a perfect example of the complexity of his poems. The line “And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; / Thou know’st that this cannot be said / A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead” shows Donne’s use of a metaphor to convince a woman to have sex with him. He is pointing out the fact that their blood is already mingled inside the flea, so they should be mingled in real life. Donne then argues that sex isn’t that big of a deal. If Mr. DeLaCruz had not pointed this out, I would not have come to that conclusion. There are so many ways the line, “And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; / Thou know’st that this cannot be said / A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead” can be interpreted, and I would not have made the jump to John Donne trying to prompt a girl to have intercourse with him. It seems as though Mr. Donne needs a steady lady in his life.

Donne’s extensive use of metaphors throughout his works is why he is considered the most famous metaphysical poet. A metaphysical poet is one who uses countless conceits. A conceit is a very interesting term, as I have come to find out. When you compare two things that don’t go well together, but the concept behind the connection bolsters the lack of comparability, that is called a conceit. It seems like an excuse. “Yeah well, it just makes sense, okay! It’s a conceit!” The term is a cop out. Someone who was called out for their terrible metaphor most likely called it a conceit to make themselves seem educated. Nevertheless, Donne uses them masterfully, and is why he is such a famous poet.