Look again at the three seventeenth century poems, To His Coy Mistress,

without warning”. Then in the third stanza, where he illuminates the allure of letting go of

The author’s analysis of one of the most famous poems of all time, “The Flea” leads us back in time to a patriarchal society of seventeenth century England. During a period of unrest that has often been referred to as “the world turned upside down” (Fritz & Robison 88). It was a time of Civil War between three religious groups, the Puritans, the Anglicans (crypto-Catholic), and the Protestants (Social History of England). Unfortunately, during this same timeframe, England was stricken by The Great Plague caused by the bite of the rat flea, killing off hundreds of thousands of citizens (Johnson 2017). The poet of “The Flea”, John Donne, has since been classified as a metaphysical poet whose talent could startle the reader and encourage previously unacknowledged perspectives (John Donne 2015). His use of rigorous and inventive conceits (long metaphoric imagery), along with his elusive arguments, innovative sentence structures, philosophy, religion, and inventive syntax created a twist of humor towards seventeenth-century society (John Donne 2015). Donne was a persecuted Catholic with a passionate personal relationship with his religion

mind. It suggest the poet see it as love or nothing and that he was

symbolic richness, but at the same time the poem supplies the reader with a wide

The poet uses a lot of plosive sounding words such as /s/, /t/, and /p/ to denote his anger and resentment.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

William Wordsworth’s poem, “Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting The Banks Of The Wye During A Tour. July 13, 1798” (also known as simply, “Tintern Abbey”), was included in the book Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems. This was a joint effort between himself and author Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “Tintern Abbey” remains one of Wadsworth’s most famous poems, and at its printing, the book was completely sold out in two years. The name of the poem reflects the inspiration Wadsworth felt upon visiting the ruins of an old church called Tintern Abbey, with his sister Dorothy.

The sound of poetry is the most important element than anything else involved with poetry. The sounds of poetry are basically a foundation of desire. It is how the syllables are arranged in a pleasant-sounding pattern to satisfy and please desires even if they have a small meaning or no meaning to them. A poem that is filled with sound but little meaning can be “The Word Plum” by Helen Chasin. It is a poem that uses the sound devices of alliteration and onomatopoeia to bring the plum to life. Using alliteration and onomatopoeia it gives the plum a sound, a savory sound, it’s almost like you can taste and touch the plum in the palm of your hand and the sounds are just rolling off the tongue with every “delicious” bite of “luxury”. In the first line there is just a brief description of how delicious the plum is, but wait there is more. Then Chasin uses alliteration in (line 2) with the two words “pout and push” because they begin with p’s, they’re verbs, four letters, and are not capitalized. Chasin also uses onomatopoeia with the second line, same words “pout and push” to give a new sound of delicious from the first line, and to explain why the plum is so delightful. Once more, she uses alliteration in the third line using “self-love and savoring”; creating that delightful sound of juices from the plum.

A poem is a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and that often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanza structure. In her poem, “Variations of the Word ‘“love”’,” Margaret Atwood introduces to her audience the word “love” from many different perspectives. Google defines “love” as “an intense feeling of deep affection”, or “having a deep feeling or sexual attachment to (someone).” But “love” is not something that can easily be described. Atwood goes on to present and portray the word through different illustrations, beginning with cliché examples and ending with her own personal scenarios. The author’s tone and metaphorical language effectively conveys her perspective of “love”.

    John Donne, a member of metaphysical school in the Seventeenth century, exhibited his brilliant talent in poetry. In "The Flea," he showed the passion to his mistress via persuasive attitude. The tone might straightforwardly create playfulness or sinfulness; yet, the poem contains none of either. What impress readers most is situation and device. The situation between the speaker and the audience is persuasion, love or marriage. As to device, the notable parts are diction and rhetoric skills. Furthermore, unique characteristics of this poem are also an important element of his persuasive tone.

has sucked his blood and hers and he is now using this flea as an

the reader, at first, feels a human connection. It allows the tone of the poem to

How is the poetry of the 17th century different from the poetry of the 16th century?

Not just words can tell us about the poem, a lot of the time we can

Poetry isn’t just a mere play on words to make something sound fancy, rather it is a personal piece of artwork that defines the moment for what it is.