Metaphysicals Readings

	The Flea by John Donne
	Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is; Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
(5)	Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead¹; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered² swells with one blood made of two³; And this, alas, is more than we would do.	¹virginity ²overfed ³the swelling suggests pregnancy
(10)	O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay 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 are met,
(15)	And cloistered⁴ in these living walls of jet⁵. Though use⁶ make you apt to kill me⁷, Let not to that, self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since	⁴as in a convent or monastery ⁵black ⁶habit ⁷by denying me sexual gratification He does not want her to kill the flea because it contains his, her, and its own blood. Therefore killing it would be "killing three."
(20)	Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it sucked from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now;	She killed the flea! She responds that neither of them are weaker for killing the flea.
(25)	'Tis true; then learn how false fears be: Just so much honor, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.	He says that is true, just as it would not harm her to give herself to him.

	The Sun Rising by John Donne
	Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why dost thou thus Through windows and through curtains call on us? Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?	The speaker addresses the sun.
(5)	Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide Late schoolboys, and sour prentices, Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride¹, Call country ants to harvest offices;² Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime³,	¹King James loved hunting. ²autumn chores; "country ants" are farm workers ³climate
(10)	Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time. Thy beams, so reverend and strong Why shouldst thou think? I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, But that I would not lose her sight so long;	He could close his eyes so as not to look at the sun, but then he would not be able to see his love.
(15)	If her eyes have not blinded thine, Look, and tomorrow late, tell me, Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine⁴ Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me. Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,	⁴The India of "spice" is East India; that of "mine" (gold), the West Indies.
(20)	And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay. She is all states⁵, and all princes I, Nothing else is. Princes do but play us; compared to this, All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy.	⁵nations
(25)	Thou, sun, art half as happy as we, In that the world's contracted thus; Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be To warm the world, that's done in warming us. Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;	The sun can be happy in its old age because it only needs to shine on them: their bed is the world.
(30)	This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere⁶.	⁶People used to believe that Earth was the center of the sun's orbit, and the sun's motion was contained within its sphere.

	Holy Sonnets 10 by John Donne
	Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost¹ overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.	¹do
(5)	From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery². Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,	²to find rest for their bones and freedom for their souls
(10)	And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy³ or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st⁴ thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.	³opium ⁴puff with pride

	The Collar¹ by George Herbert	¹This title has more than one meaning. "The Collar" can refer to a clerical collar that has become a slave's collar. It could also be a pun on the word "choler" meaning anger. Or, it could refer to the caller that the author finally hears.
	I struck the board² and cried, "No more; I will abroad! What? Shall I ever sigh and pine? My lines and life are free, free as the road,	²allusion to the Communion table
(5)	Loose as the wind, as large as store. Shall I be still in suit³? Have I no harvest but a thorn To let me blood, and not restore What I have lost with cordial⁴ fruit ?	³always in attendance, waiting on someone for a favor ⁴restorative to the heart
(10)	Sure there was wine Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn⁵ Before my tears did drown it. Is the year only lost to me? Have I no bays⁶ to crown it,	⁵grain ⁶the poet's laurel wreath; a symbol of recognized accomplishment
(15)	No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted? All wasted? Not so, my heart; but there is fruit, And thou hast hands. Recover all thy sigh-blown age
(20)	On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage, Thy rope of sands, Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee Good cable⁷, to enforce and draw,	⁷Christian restrictions on behavior, which the "petty thoughts" of the docile believer have made into strong bonds
(25)	And be thy law, While thou didst wink and wouldst not see. Away! Take heed; I will abroad. Call in thy death's-head⁸ there; tie up thy fears.	⁸This refers to a skull as an emblem of human mortality.
(30)	He that forbears To suit and serve his need, Deserves his load." But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild, At every word,
(35)	Methoughts I heard one calling, Child! And I replied, My Lord.


	To His Coy¹ Mistress by Andrew Marvell	¹shy
	Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love's day.
(5)	Thou by the Indian Ganges' side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber² would complain. I would Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse	²The Ganges river is a big river in India. The Humber is a river near Marvell's hometown.
(10)	Till the conversion of the Jews³. 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;	³The Flood is an early occurrence in the Bible with Noah. The conversion of the Jews is supposed to occur just before the Last Judgement. The speaker is saying that if they had all the time in the world, they would take love slowly.
(15)	Two hundred to adore each breast, 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 state⁴,	⁴dignity
(20)	Nor would I love at lower rate. But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity.	Here, the speaker is saying that they don't, in fact, have all the time in the world.
(25)	Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint⁵ honour turn to dust,	⁵"Quaint" is a pun on "out of date" and queynte, which is a term for the female genitals.
(30)	And into ashes all my lust: 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,
(35)	And while thy willing soul transpires⁶ At every pore with instant fires⁷, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour	⁶breathes forth ⁷urgent and immediate enthusiasm
(40)	Than languish in his slow-chapped⁸ power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Thorough⁹ the iron gates of life:	⁸The slow jaws are Time's. Time is slowly eating up the world. ⁹through The speaker and his lover have reversed the roles and are eating up time instead of being eaten by it.
(45)	Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.	Marvell hints that they should enjoy their time together and that this will make time fly, or the sun "run."