The Flea by John Donne and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell Essay

The Flea by John Donne and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell "The Flea" by John Donne is written in the 17th century as is "To his coy mistress" by Andrew Marvell. This we can see by the language used which was typical of that period in time "apt to kill me" and "yea" which are taken from the flea. Both poems also speak of virginity being very important, especially before marriage because if a woman had lost her "maidenhead" before, the husband would have the right to leave her without the need for a divorce. Both poems have the same theme of seduction. In "The flea" this is put across in each in three regular stanzas where as "To His Coy Mistress" is written in to sections. This is to convey that each stanza is still about the same subject because they are of similar lengths and writing style. The first stanza of "The Flea" conveys the message of how the flea has taken blood from both of their bodies and has combine it in the body of the flea, and so making them united as one "And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be". Donne's argument is based on this flea throughout the three stanza's and goes on to start his persuasion that the flea has had its pleasure in the form of food, and so why can they not enjoy in a sexual relationship and experience pleasure similar to what the flea has had, but without the trouble of wooing her leading on to marrying her. In the second stanza he then goes on to further push his argument (which at this time seems to be going quite well) that in the flea's "living wall of jet" they have been put together even though her parents have doubts "Though parents grudge" and are almost married (since their bloods have been combined and become one which, in that period of ... ... with her. However the type of love most people would like to feel is that in "Shall I Compare Thee" which displays a staggering amount of compliments for the lady in the poem. Overall these poems are very different in their portrayal of love, but each manage to convey it to the reader exceedingly well through use of structure (such as the dramatic monologue form of "My Last Duchess" that shows his self centeredness and control), language (such as the complementary language used in "Shall I Compare Thee"). Imagery is also used effectively (as in "First Love" when Clare describes himself as "winter" and girls as "flowers" to show that he does not comply with them). The actual content used is also very effective as in "To His Coy Mistress", where the syllogism and the tactics of complements and frightening are used to, what is in my opinion, good effect.