Metaphysical Poetry. The Flea (1633) John Donne

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1 The Flea (1633) John Donne Mark but this flea, and mark in this, 1 How little that which thou deniest me is; It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou know'st that this cannot be said 5 A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two; And this, alas is more than we would do. O stay, three lives in one flea spare, 10 Where we almost, yea, more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, And cloister'd in these living walls of jet. 15 Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? 20 Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now. 'Tis true; then learn how false fears be; 25 Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee. 6 maidenhead = virginity 15 cloister'd = secluded, sheltered 16 apt = quick 18 sacrilege = blasphemy, irreverence, disrespect Donne, John. The Flea. Poems of John Donne. Ed. E.K. Chambers. London: Lawrence & Bullen, Print.

2 To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time (1648) Robert Herrick Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, 1 Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, 5 The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; 10 But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry; For having lost but once your prime, 15 You may forever tarry. 16 tarry = wait To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time can be found on page 464 in The Language of Literature: British Literature.

3 To His Coy Mistress (1652) Andrew Marvell Had we but world enough, and time, 1 This coyness, Lady, were no crime. We would sit down and think which way To walk and pass our long love's day. Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5 Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. 10 My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast; 15 But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart; For, Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. 20 But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25 Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song: then worms shall try That long preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust: 30 The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace. Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires 35 At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40 Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Thorough the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun 46 Stand still, yet we will make him run. 5 Ganges = a great river of northern India 7 Humber = a river of northern Englad, flowing through Marvell s hometown 7 complain = sing melancholy love songs 8 flood = the biblical Flood 10 till Jews = In Marvell s day, Christians believed that all Jews would convert to Christianity just before the Last Judgment and the end of the world 11 vegetable love = a love that grows like a plant slowly but with the power to become very large 19 state = dignity 35 transpires = breathes 40 slow-chapped = slow-jawed 44 thorough = through To His Coy Mistress can be found on pages in The Language of Literature: British Literature.

4 To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars (1649) Richard Lovelace Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind, 1 That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind To war and arms I fly. True, a new mistress now I chase, 5 The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield. Yet this inconstancy is such As thou, too, shalt adore; 10 I could not love thee, Dear, so much, Loved I not Honor more. To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars can be found on pages 467 in The Language of Literature: British Literature.

5 Still to Be Neat (1609) Ben Jonson Metaphysical Poetry Still to be neat, still to be dressed, 1 As you were going to a feast; Still to be powdered, still perfumed: Lady, it is to be presumed, Though art's hid causes are not found, 5 All is not sweet, all is not sound. Give me a look, give me a face, That makes simplicity a grace; Robes loosely flowing, hair as free: Such sweet neglect more taketh me 10 Than all the adulteries of art; They strike mine eyes, but not my heart. 1 still = always 11 adulteries = impurities; debasements Still to Be Neat can be found on page 460 in The Language of Literature: British Literature. Epigrams: On my First Son (1616) Ben Jonson Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; 1 My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy. Seven years tho' wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. O, could I lose all father now! For why 5 Will man lament the state he should envy? To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage, And if no other misery, yet age? Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say, "Here doth lie Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry." 10 For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such, As what he loves may never like too much. "Epigrams: On my First Son." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

6 A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning (1633) John Donne Metaphysical Poetry 1 As virtuous men pass mildly away, And whisper to their souls to go, Whilst some of their sad friends do say, "Now his breath goes," and some say, "No." 5 So let us melt, and make no noise, No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; 'Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears; Men reckon what it did, and meant; But trepidation of the spheres, Though greater far, is innocent. Dull sublunary lovers' love (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit Of absence, 'cause it doth remove The thing which elemented it. But we by a love so much refined, That ourselves know not what it is, Inter-assurèd of the mind, Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss. Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to aery thinness beat. 25 If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th' other do And though it in the centre sit, Yet, when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it, And grows erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must, Like th' other foot, obliquely run; Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun. 8 laity: persons without understanding 9 moving of th earth: an earthquake 11 trepidation of the spheres: apparently irregular movements of heavenly bodies 13 sublunary lovers love: the love of early lovers, which, like all things beneath the moon, is subject to change and death 19 inter-assured of the mind: confident of each other s love 26 twin compasses: the two legs of a compass used for drawing circles 34 obliquely: not in a straight line 35 firmness: constancy A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning can be found on pages in The Language of Literature: British Literature.