Parasites_And_Pick-Up_Lines;_Sophistry_In_John_Donnes__“The

Parasites And Pick-Up Lines; Sophistry In John Donnes “The Flea“ Parasites and Pick-Up Lines; Sophistry in John Donnes’ “The Flea” Rejoice! For at long last, that humblest and most useless of insects, the bloodsucking flea, has found its’ purpose in life through poetry. John Donnes’ “The Flea” demonstrates that former presidents and politicians are not the only men who manipulate language to suit their own ends. Indeed, the use of sophistry as a tool of seduction is an ancient art, and Donne, through his speaker in this piece, uses it more than any other poet in this section. “The Flea” is more than a run of the mill love poem. It is an ingeniously clever, if not downright devious attempt to woo a lady of high station into bed. In the piece, a young suitor is trying, in vain, to wangle a romp in the sheets from his ladylove. He is struck with inspiration when a flea, out for a late night snack, bites him, then bounds away to take a nibble from the object of his pursuit. He points out that their blood is now mingled in the flea, flea, speaker, sophistry, blood, through, now, lady, killing, donnes’, unfolds, tries, symbol, suitor, stanza, sheets, seduction, section, romp, result, poem, piece, out, occurred, love, john, its’, guilt, even, dishonor, convince, bed, becomes, youth, young, yet