The Art of Seduction - Essay Example

189393 John Donne, that master poet, wrote both Apparition and The Flea where many similarities and dissimilarities exist. The common themes between the two are death, bed, sleep, love, and element of seduction blatant in The Flea, hidden in the Apparition. The Flea could be described as the lover’s desire to become a flea to derive enhanced access into the female body. It is a playful, perverted way to enhance passion in his lover. There is strong imagery; but not excessive. There are abundant sexual connotations and many metaphors are used in the clever poem. There are symbolic images, with witty and argumentative language, full of amorous intellectuality and Donne employs different stylistic devices. The poem celebrates the seductive attraction between man and woman. Apparition is about the jilted lover and is written without conceit. It is directly addressed, and shows anguish of rejection with charming metaphors (Aspen Wretch etc.). But it is not a cry of anguish and hopelessness; but a desirable persuasion from not fully broken, still hopeful heart full of love. Here, tension builds up steadily and mixes with feigned virginity and religious imagery. Ghost could be the guilty conscience; also could be the tool to mildly frighten the unbending attitude of the female. This is a melodramatic cry full of irony from the wounded male, struggling against the scorn of his beloved. There is a rush of purely mortified and injured emotions. He is definitely hurt beyond endurance and hoping to hurt her in revenge; at the same time, there is a lingering hope of winning her love back. Apparition also is a prophecy of the woman’s ruin which, some critics described as ‘a terrible indictment’. Still there is tenderness because he does not want to terrify her. It implies the common belief that candles burn blue and dim in ghostly presence. Language here is vehement and angry with inevitable disgust towards her new lover. It is one of the five Misogyny poems. It has three changes of feelings and is less rhetoric than The Flea with more bitterness. Overall form of The Flea is very different from Apparition where last three lines have dramatically different sonnet style. Apparition has untraditional rhyming with abbab-cdcdc-effe-ggg and Donne has taken liberties in the rhythm. It has only 17 lines, 11, iambic pentameter, one (lest that…), hexameter. Middle lines are not classical, but readable, though awkward with iambic/trochaic vagaries and it has a single stanza. Flea is a classic example of metaphysical school, while Apparition is not. They reflect the internal and alliteration style employed by Donne while Flea is more rhythmic. Metaphor is used extensively in both the poems. Flea has a circular movement, rounded, starts and ends with the flea. There is strong imagery where three could be referred to as Trinity or as the resultant child from sex. Blood could be portrayed as blood of innocence and guilt with man trying to seduce the woman. Some critics called it ‘hijacking of marriage’. Female reactions are not implied anywhere. Purple as a color was expensive as it could be made out of Lapis Lazuli and was connected with blue blood of royalty. It was also a token of richness and opulence. There is a covert implication that the loss of virginity is less important than the death of a flea, which, now has the blood of both and hence, has attained union status. There is a strong existence of hyperbole. In this poem, every line is interconnected with the other line and if even one line is separated, the poem loses its elasticity and fluidity. Apparition sentences rather loosely knitted and would not lose the intensity by omitting one or two. Both have persuasive power by presenting strongly one’s own point of view with vivid metaphors. Both have pestering quality, based on comparison and imagery. In Flea first stanza is whimsical, a kind of wishful thinking. Second becomes a bit ridiculous and unbelievable and the third has a negativity and later it builds up to reach a climax in the death of the flea. An allegory could be implied that the two bloods coming together was a mere sex act and the flea’s death was the death of passion in both of them. In Apparition poem starts with hate, builds up with jealousy and ends with wicked wish covering the hope of regaining love. Flea is slightly derogatory to church, religion and sanctity of marriage. There are Renaissance stories that poets saw a flea sitting on the fair breast of a woman in the literary saloon and that inspired them to write poetry on the flea. Throughout mild but intense seduction rules the poem in mingling of blood, one blood, one flesh and their union through the flea, defying marriage and religion etc. It is a sexually persuasive poem with many hidden meanings, and there is suggestion of union and consummation through intimate sex. He uses rhythm to shape poem’s hidden meanings and nuances. The lines are alternatively iambic tetrameter and pentameter and are manipulated freely for effect and emphasis (Mark but this flea, and mark in this” and here he strays away from iambic and its unstressed words. Rhyme scheme is equally important in obvious stress on meanings and there is use of pyrrhic foot to stress on ‘flea’. It has 27 lines and the rhyme scheme is aabbccddd showing persistence and determination with unbridled and restless sexuality and call for sex. There is hardly any mention of love, although tender persuasion is the main theme. Apparition’s theme is love and its language, though vengeful, could be called subtle. Mostly Donne’s poems are about love, sex, religion. There is playfulness in choice of words, jealousy, artful insistence, (marriage bed/temple), mock indignation prophesying the dead flea’s innocence. Sexual rhythm could be compared with the last moments of flea’s life. Sexual allegory can be seen in the meter and diction. (met / cloistered). He was a metaphysical poet. Rhythm changes with the stanza, but retains sexually crude lust, covered with persisting, attractive wooing and poems have similarity written by the metaphysic master of conceit. Read More