Metaphysical poetry is a type of poetry written during 17th century England. Usually, these poems are written for intellectual and personal benefits. The themes of the poems that are featured in this essay usually are sexual or romantic, talking about love or a lover. However, although the themes are similar, the attitudes to love or sex are different. “The Flea” is a poem that constantly tries to outsmart and persuade the narrator’s mistress to make love with him. The narrator tries to make use of the conceit of the insect and manipulate it to strengthen his argument. This leads to creating strange imagery and contrast between two seemingly opposite parallels, sex and religion. The connotations of this imagery include the juxtaposition of sexual and religious imagery. The poet uses specific language to cause an impact on the reader. For example, “two bloods mingled” explains that their blood has already mixed within the body of the flea implying that they are already together and that marriage could not bring them closer (“More than married are”). In this way, the narrator legitimises the idea of making love. The tone of this poem is very persuasive as the narrator pushes the boundaries of religion to the extent of juxtaposing sex and religion. This is a ploy to try and soften her heart to making love …show more content…
In the first stanza, Marvell presents traditional romantic thoughts. He tactically speaks about taking “an hundred years” to “praise Thine eyes” and “two hundred to adore each breast”. However, all these passionate phrases are undermined by the presence of the opening line, “Had we but world enough, and time”. The narrator draws her attention to a fake fantasy world that may seem wonderful, but the narrator explicitly reveals that it is impossible. Persuasively, he informs the mistress that “you deserve this state” so as to appeal to her romantic