- Last 7 days
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blogs.dickinson.edu blogs.dickinson.edu
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This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
Even more pushes back against traditional marriage ideals and such because they aren't really married right now its something that happened within the flea . Maybe marriage doesn't have to be exactly what people think?
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Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Sacredness brought to the text
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Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Alliteration "m" sound in "mark," "me," and "mingle"
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- Sep 2024
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blogs.dickinson.edu blogs.dickinson.edu
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And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
"cloistered" (religious) referring to the seclusion of monks or nuns in a monastery "Walls of jet" (flea), hard dark exterior of flea, shows a physical and symbolic barrier that contains their union
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This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
This flea represents us / its like our marriage bed and its our temple
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Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay more than married a
Wait, don't kill the flea, it has 3 lives in it / We are married because of this
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Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is;
Look at this flea, and notice this: What you’re denying me is really something small.
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It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
It bit me first, and now it’s biting you / Our blood has now mixed inside this flea
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Thou know’st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before it woo,
You know this can’t be considered / A sin, shame, or the loss of virginity / And yet, this flea gets pleasure before supporting
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And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than we would do.
Its full and bloated from our combined blood / And unfortunately this flea has done more than we have
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blogs.dickinson.edu blogs.dickinson.edu
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Ill spirits walk in white, we easily know, By this these Angels from an evil sprite, Those set our hairs, but these our flesh uprig
Donne contrasts good and evil spirits, says that while both might wear white, the difference is in their effects: evil spirits cause fear (“set our hairs”), while angels like the woman bring pleasure and arousal (“our flesh upright”). Play on words, “upright” carries sexual connotations
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Now off with those shoes, and then safely tread In this love’s hallow’d temple, this soft bed.
Donne is taking this physical even and turning it into something holy and reverent, making their love seem like an act of worship or transcendence. Relating soft bed to temple.
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meads
Definition:"A meadow"
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Coronet
Definition: "a small or relatively simple crown, especially as worn by lesser royalty and peers or peeresses"
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Diadem
Definition: "a jeweled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty"
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Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals, As when from flowery meads th’hill’s shadow steals.
Rhyming couplets in Iambic Pentameter
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