John Donne's religious and love poetry are both the same in terms of quality and preference, mostly due to their similarity in terms of content and technique. "The Flea" is one example of Donne's love poetry and the great deal of effort that he puts into its composition and argumentative structure. This is of equal preference to the religious poem "Death be not Proud", wherein Donne displays his gift of (in his time) great freshness and originality in the abuse of the personified Death. This is similar to Donne's love poem "The Sun Rising" - except that he has switched from the revered (and feared) Death to The Sun for his verbal abuse. Donne also strays from the traditional religious poetic content in his "Batter my heart", in which he commands God to destroy and remake him. All of Donne's poems are in a unique field of their own when compared to other composers - though criticism can be leveled at Donned work in its repetitiveness when compared to other of Donne's works.
John Donne, one of the most famous Metaphysical Po...
John Donne in his shroud. He posed for this painti...
English: Art cover for John Donne's divine poemsDonne's "The Flea" is contrasted to the religious poems in its almost comical argumentative tone and content. The poem is centered around Donne's courting of a woman, and his encouragement of physical intimacy - in which he uses a flea for an example. "It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, and in this flea our two bloods mingled be" is used by Donne as a metaphor for intimacy throughout his argument. This shows Donne's creativity in his writing in the use of such a unique and unlikely conceit for a poem. Donne then goes further in his argument - the flea becomes an icon of religion and marriage- which means that their union, through accumulation, "cannot be said a sin, nor shame,