悠然芝南山

1
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
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
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.
2
O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
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.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.
3
Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?
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 ;
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

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Source:
Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 1-2.
----------------------------------------------------------------------本詩簡析


第一段
詩中人向女士求愛遭拒，於是詩中人取近取譬，指稱身旁的跳蚤已經吸了雙方的血，無論雙方交媾與否，都會懷孕生子。

第二段
這隻跳蚤體內現在擁有三個生命（詩中人、女士和胎兒），牠的身體成為結婚的聖堂，所以說如果這位女士打死了這隻跳蚤，那麼她就犯了罪：自殺、謀殺和毀壞婚姻的殿堂。

第三段
這隻跳蚤何罪之有？為何非置牠於死地不可？難道就因為牠奪走女士一點血液嗎？ 這裡顯示女子對貞節的重視，也是拒絕詩中人的求愛。詩中人隨即答覆，大意為：告訴女士沒啥好怕的，如委身於他也不過像她打死跳蚤一樣，所能損失的不過是一點血（貞節）而已。