Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day, The Flea and Jenny Kissed Me Essay Example

of love.

However, the sonnet and The Flea poems have different themes. The sonnet expresses that a summer's day can be unpleasant using a metaphor likening the sun to 'the eye of heaven' that can be too hot on occasions, whereas The Flea is a three-stanza poem that slyly asks for sex by describing how the flea's bloodsucking combines the male and female characters into one. John Donne intends to persuade the female character in his poem to have sex with the male character.

'Our two bloods mingled bee' - this is the message conveyed by the male character through the flea, justifying the need for sexual relations. Donne argues that if the flea can consume food from both of them, why can't they indulge in a similar relationship. In the following stanza, Donne suggests that the flea is a 'sign' implying that even if the parents object to their union, it is justified as they have already been mixed inside the flea.

'Where wee almost, nay more than maryed are:' and 'Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;' suggest having sex right then, even though the parents disapprove. Donne starts to flatter the woman, understanding that she desires to wait for marriage before having sex. Overall, these three love poems before 1914 have some similarities but many differences.

Despite being written by different authors with varying styles, each of these poems presents a unique perspective on love and relationships. The flea employs a clever approach to persuading a girl to engage in a sexual relationship, while Shakespeare's Shall I compare thee to a summer's day explores the complexities of love. Meanwhile, Jenny kissed me portrays unrequited love

and the struggle to move on from past experiences. All of these works effectively convey their message in inventive ways, except for James Leigh Hunt's Jenny Kissed Me, which opts for a direct and blunt approach.

Despite their differing themes, John Donne and William Shakespeare are known for their complex methods of delivering a message through their poems and sonnets. In 'The Flea', Donne aims to seduce a woman into having premarital sex, while Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' explores the duality of love as both positive and negative. In contrast, James Leigh Hunt's 'Jenny Kissed Me' focuses on the idea of holding onto memories of past love for various reasons.

The time period in which poems are written can reveal information about them. Comparing Donne's 'The Flea' and Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summers day', both composed during a similar era and cultural context, to James Leigh Hunt's 'Jenny Kissed Me' which was written a century later, highlights the significant transformation in writing styles over time. This can be likened to the noticeable contrast between Old English and modern writing styles.