John Donne was born in London, England in year 1572.  Samuel Johnson, an 18th Century English poet, named Donne the founder of the Metaphysical Poets.  The Metaphysical Poets were a small group of poets who were able to coax their readers with the use of paradoxical images, subtle argument, inventive syntax, and imagery from art.  Donne was born during a period of political and theological unrest for both England and France.  He studied at many prominent schools such as Oxford and Cambridge Universities.  He also studied law at Lincoln's Inn.  He eventually joined the Anglican Church after his brother died in prison because of his loyalty to Catholicism.  In 1601, Donne married Anne More.  In 1615, Donne was named Royal Chaplain of the Anglican Church.  Anne died in 1617 at the age of thirty-three.  She died giving birth to what would have been their 12th child, but it was stillborn.
(http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/243)




THE FLEA.
by John Donne

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.

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.

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.

(http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/flea.php)




I was really fascinated by The Flea.  What a way to "woo" a woman.  I'm sure that if a man were to use this type of "pickup" today that one of two things would happen:  he would be laughed at, or he would be hit up side the head with some object (most likely a purse).  It is kind of hard to tell, for me at least, if he was deeply in love with this woman or if he was just looking for a one night stand.  I'm leaning more towards the fact the he was in love with this woman.  When Donne writes of the two bloods mingling, this to me is a sign of true love.   

Shakespeare Sonnet 29

When I first heard this production of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, I was almost speechless after listening to it.  It is performed by Rufus Wainwright and is very beautiful to listen to.  The artist chose the movie Pride and Prejudice to pair this sonnet with.  I believe that this was a very good choice.  The sonnet and the movie match up almost perfectly.  I have read many of Shakespeare's sonnets, and all of them seem to have some sort of message in them.  I feel as if his sonnets almost speak from human experience.

Reflection on Hamlet

Hamlet is a very well known tragedy written by William Shakespeare.  To me, there is a lot of "he said, she said" that occurs in Hamlet.  It is all a big case of revenge.  I feel that the guards, Marcellus and Barnado, did what the should have done.  They let the dead King Hamlet's son, Hamlet know that they have the seen the King's ghost.  Now, when the ghost finally appears to Hamlet, the true nature of his father's death is revealed.  He was murdered by Claudius who is about to marry Gertrude, Hamlet's mother.  Hamlet was very mild-tempered throughout the story.  He was able to keep his cool under pressure.  This is very surprising to me because I know that if someone told me that my father was murdered, there is no way that I could have kept my temper like Hamlet did.  Hamlet is actually very tricky at times.  When the traveling players arrive, Hamlet asks them to perform "The Murder of Gonzago" in front of King Claudius.  Hamlet does this so that he and Horatio can secure King Claudius' guilt by his reaction.  To me this is a very smart move.  They are doing this almost as to double-check their selves.  This ensures that killing King Claudius can be justified.
(http://www.playshakespeare.com/hamlet)

Shakespeare Biographical

William Shakespeare was the third of eight children born to John and Mary Shakespeare (http://www.playshakespeare.com/directory).  William was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.  However, the exact date of his birth is still somewhat of a mystery.  At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was twice as old as he was.  Anne was already several months pregnant at the time of their marriage.  She ended up giving birth to twins, Judith and Hamnet, the latter of which died at the age of 11 from unknown complications.  After the death of his son, Shakespeare vanished from the public eye for seven years.  These seven years are known as "The Hidden Years" (http://www.bardweb.net/man.html).  Shakespeare began his acting and playwriting career in the year 1592.  Soon after, the Plague hit and all theatres were shut down.  Facing unemployment, Shakespeare began to write narrative poems.  The plays the Shakespeare wrote focused on areas of actual human experience.  This leads us to believe that he had a vast amount of knowledge of people and of human nature (http://www.playshakespeare.com/directory).  Shakespeare was known as the poet who wrote from the stage.  Shakespeare invested into a theatre in London.  He, along with his business partner Richard Burbage, had the theatre dismantled and relocated in Southwark.  This theatre is famously known as The Globe.  Shakespeare allegedly died on April 23, 1616 and is buried at the Holy Trinity Church.  One very intriguing fact about Shakespeare is that he is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the English language.