ipl-logo

The Flea Poem Interpretation

796 Words4 Pages

Poetry has always been used as a literary art form to express one’s intense emotions or feelings, but do all poems have a true interpretation of what is being expressed? Many people do not have a keen eye when it comes to reading poetry and have a difficult time interpreting what the author is trying to express. Due to this misunderstanding, the audience lacks interest reading in this type of literary work. Through my journey with poems, I try to see the eye of the author and feel one’s emotions by rereading this type of literature. In this journey, I discover new meanings and different interpretations by just reading one poem that can change one’s perspective multiple times. In John Donne’s “The Flea” can be taken in my different meanings to many people, but no one can figure out what the exact story the author is trying to illustrate. Before reading this poem, I tried to interpret the title …show more content…

When I finished reading the poem, I realized that my interpretation from the first reading had drastically changed from this reading. The new terms and analyzing certain lines in the has made me realize the theme. My first interpretation of the theme was that the poem was about love and how the Doone was hurt by his beloved, but now analyzing the poem the reasons stick out like a sore thumb. A flea is an insect that sucks bloods and can carries diseases. The author uses a flea as a metaphor to represent how his beloved betrayed him. The author states, “this flea our two bloods mingled be” and uses the word “maidenhead” to signify the possible connection of a baby. In the poem, the author’s beloved betrayed him about the baby which is why he may have said “[w]ill waste, as this flee’s death took the life of thee.” By the use of vocabulary and the use of metaphor, such as “the flea”, all contribute to the vision that Doone had behind this

Show More
Related
991 Words | 4 Pages

In his poem “an Echo Sonnet, To an Empty Page” poet Robert Pack introduces a narrator and his alter ego who exchange questions and answers that subsequently reveals the poet’s prospects and attitudes toward life. The narrator, or “the voice,” seems like a timid man who is afraid to plunge into his own life, because he fears the future and inevitable consequences of his mortality. The “echo,” which is the narrator’s alter ego, or a persona, answers the the voice’s questions in a way that drive the voice to take a certain prospect in life. Pack designed the poem masterfully in a way that it utilizes the traditional form of a shakespearean sonnet and an addendum of on “echo,” which communicates a cleaner and more direct message to the readers. Furthermore various literary techniques such as symbols, extraposition, and imagery add to the meaning of the poem Through form and literary techniques, Robert Pack emphasizes, through the answers of the “echo,” that no matter how frightening life seems to be, it is important to take a “leap.”

Read More
619 Words | 3 Pages

Some see the ugliness in the most beautiful things but others see the beauty in the most hideous of things. The poem William Street by Kenneth Slessor demonstrates this thesis statement as he talks about how he sees the beauty in the street that is renowned for its ugliness and the unsightly surroundings it is engulfed with. This poem's literary techniques and imagery gives the readers an insight into the environment and the surroundings that are seen vividly even though they are described through the use of foreshadowing. Each stanza gives the readers a different understanding on what is going on during the poem.

Read More
1740 Words | 7 Pages

He refers to the bed full of fleas as appropriate and good for creative thought. The bed is unclean and shows how negative it is to believe that it is good for creative thought. It is harmful to the person who practices “unjust argument” as well as those around him, just like the bed of fleas is harmful to the person sleeping on it and people around

Read More
1228 Words | 5 Pages

Poetry is an important part of literature which conveys an author 's ideas across to the reader through the use of descriptive language. Poetry helps an author to express their inner emotions and often incorporates various poetic devices which enriches the text. Poetry gives the reader a different perspective and when read closely, can give the audience a look into the authors imagination. Likewise, poetic devices enhance the writing and can drastically change the mood of the poem, as well as, how the reader interprets the poem. Poetic devices are important in literature because they help to convey a message, add spontaneity to a poem, and give the reader a strong visual.

Read More
251 Words | 2 Pages

Julia Alvarez, in her poem “’Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”, writes that poems do play a role in people’s lives. She supports her idea by using relateable examples of how poems might change someone’s life. Her first example is simple, poetry can entertain someone on long drives. This does not only aply to long dirves however, Alvarez uses this to show that poetry does not have to have a big influence on someone’s life, instead it can affect a person in the smallest of ways, such as entertainment. The second example describes poetry comforting someone after the loss of a loved one.

Read More
444 Words | 2 Pages

Similes in the poem such as ‘till he was like to drop’ are used to create a more descriptive image in the reader’s mind. Metaphors when saying ‘He lifted up his hairy paw’ and in many other sections of the poem to exaggerate areas to give the reader a more interesting view. So the poet can express what he is trying to prove through and entertaining way. The imagery device enhances the poem to make it stand out more so it grabs the reader attention. The poem was a very entertaining and humorous.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

Society, for centuries, has revered poetry for its beauty, philosophy, and unique capability to reveal truth to the individual. One of the most prominent time periods that display society’s acclaim for poetry was within the Romantic period. Romanticism, according to the New World Encyclopedia, was “an artistic and intellectual movement that ran from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century. It stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience” (New World Encyclopedia, 2015). Romanticism glorified art, poetry, music, and nature.

Read More
1406 Words | 6 Pages

However, after reading the first stanza, it is evident to the reader that, there is oppression in the air. The first stanza reads that, “Dawn in New York has four columns of mire and a hurricane of black pigeons splashing in the putrid waters,” and this is clear to the reader that, the New York Dawn is not a normal dawn and that life in New York is despondent. According to the writer, the dawn does not come with something to smile about. After reading the poem, we realize the writer’s reason for entitling it as such.

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

In “The Trouble with Poetry”, and “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins focuses on the issue of forced inspiration, and the lack of appreciation readers, and aspiring poets have for the feel of poetry. In “Introduction to Poetry”, Collins mentions that some poetry enthusiasts try too hard to find the meaning of a poem; to try and decipher it like some ancient hieroglyphics, that they forget that poetry is not an essay and does not necessarily have to have a distinct message. In stanza’s seven and eight, the speaker states that poetry should be felt, and that what one poem means to a group of people could have a completely different effect on another group. In stanza eight “Feel the walls” is the speaker’s ways of saying that one should feel a poem and let the poem speak to them, instead of searching for what they believe to be its true meaning.

Read More
1574 Words | 7 Pages

Written poetry is seen as more universal than personal as the reader, instead of the

Read More
833 Words | 4 Pages

Poetry is a piece of literature where the author shares his ideas of a subject or person. He is attempting to allow the reader an understanding of his feelings regarding this subject. Most of the time poetry can be very pleasing to the ear; however, at times it can be written in a manner that is odd. Some poetry is written in a way that the reader can “hear”, “feel”, “see” or “taste” elements in the poem. Some poems may rhyme while others may not need to in order to convey the message.

Read More
336 Words | 2 Pages

As a person who feels that she never gets the meaning right to poetry, reading Matthew Zapruder’s article “Understanding Poetry Is More Straightforward than You Think” helped me gain perspective. By focusing on the words, keep it simple with the words before trying to connect it to a historical meaning. This appealed to me because it’s the truth, as soon as I read the poem I try to interpret the words and look past the idea that maybe the words are just words. I’ve been taught that all poems have a deeper meaning than the surface of the words in other poetry courses. Due to this it is hard to break the habit that has been instilled.

Read More
1592 Words | 7 Pages

Both people and animals walk on the streets and either could step on or touch something sharp and cut themselves. Animals could also eat trash and, depending on what it is, it could cause harm to them or potentially kill them. “As I turn up the collar on my favourite winter coat” (stanza 2, line 1), while not being a direct piece of figurative language, means that he has choices between which coat he wears. He is more privileged than others, which is a reason to help others. Also, more figuratively, turning up the collar on your coat can mean that you are shutting people out and only thinking about yourself.

Read More
698 Words | 3 Pages

The poem "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye speaks about how you experience kindness and what it really is. The main point in this poem is that in order to experience people's kindness you need to experience hurt, sorrow, and loneliness. The author says that when you loose everything and have no one or thing that when kindness comes along it lifts you up "and then goes with you everywhere/ like a shadow or a friend" (33-34). When portraying this message the author uses a sad but hopeful tone to send the message she wants to say. This tone helps portray the message because you can feel how sad someone is when they are lonely and they have nothing.

Read More
781 Words | 4 Pages

How Do I Love Thee – Elizabeth Barrett Browning interprets the meaning, tone, and overall effect of a poem How Do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barret Browning is an iconic and powerful love poem. The work is part of Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of poems that Elizabeth Browning wrote for her husband, poet Robert Browning. It is a passionate declaration of love from one who is in love, which has resonates with readers through history because of the rawness and familiarity of its feelings.

Read More

More about The Flea Poem Interpretation

Related Topics

Open Document