The Flea

 

IGNOU MEG01 BLOCK-2 Unit-13 John Donne: Portrait of the Man, His Thematic and Technical Innovations and textual study of four Love Poems


THE FLEA

John Donne's "The Flea''(most likely written in the 1590s) IS one of the most admired poems occurring in the section titled Songs and Sonnets. A Dutch poet, Huyghens translated some 19 poems of John Donne with "The Flea'' coming at the top, and some Dutch correspondents of Huyghens selected this poem for special commendation. Sir Grierson looks upon "The Flea" as a masterpiece of wit in England and Holland. J.B. Leishman, too, In his book, Monarch of Wit lavishes praise on "The Flea ''. Donne had performed a kind of miracle, had almost succeeded in triumphing over the laws of nature - had, as it were, niade a fire without stilts, built a house without bricks, created something out of nothing, or next to nothing. 


The astonishing fact about the poem is that the poet writes three stanzas of twenty seven line$, of close-wit and consecutive argument on an apparently unpromising subject as a flea-bite.


the subject of poetry may be trivial, but the skill of the poet may transmute the ugly material into something engrossing, and John Donne's "The Flea" engages the mind of the reader by the brilliance of his wit. 


"The Flea" is provocatively anti-courtly, and deflationary of the high pretensions of the religion of love.


You can check out my YouTube videos on the same topic where I have explained everything in Hindi in detail. Links are below-


Block-3 The Metaphysical Poets: Donne, Herbert

Metaphysical poets Part 1 

Metaphysical poets Part 2

Life of John Donne 


More related and helpful links in the description box of my YouTube channel.


John Donne's Famous Poems- I explained on my YouTube Channel-


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