The Flea
John Donne
Mark but this flea,and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
Me is sucked first,and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin,or a shame,or loss of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this ,alas,is more than we would do.
Oh 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.
And cloistered 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 sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st and sy’st that thou
Find’st not thy self nor me the weaker now;
“Tis true; then learn how false fears be;
Just so much honor,when you yield’st to me.
Will waste,as this flea’s death took life from thee.
·注释
1.Mark:notice 注意
2.Me it sucked first:It sucked me first sucked:吮吸
3.mingled:混合,融合
4.woo:求爱
5.pampered swells:Pregnancy 指怀孕
6.and this,alas,is more than we would do; we,alas,don’t dare to hope for this consummation of our love,nevertheless the flee accepts it.
7.nay more than married are:we enjoy greater pleasures than those we can after marriage.Nay:不仅如此,而且
8.grudge:嫉妒；不愿给
9.jet:指他们现在滔滔不绝的谈话
10.use:habit 习俗势力
11.apt:有…倾向的
12.sacriledge:亵渎；渎圣
13.three sins in killing three; the lover will commit three sins in killing his or her lover,the flea and their baby which was not yet born.
14.yields to me:屈从于我,指诗中情人答应了“我”的要求.

这是一首富有喜剧色彩的诗篇，充分表现出诗人善于使用玄学类比的才能。
让跳蚤与恋人之间发生关联的观念的确显得新奇。世界诗歌史上，在歌颂爱情时，人们总是用优美的意象和华丽的诗句。而这首《跳蚤》，则显得十分另类，以17世纪英国人们日常生活中经常出现的然而让人见之即厌的“跳蚤”入诗，将它与人类视之神圣的爱情与婚姻联系了起来，以达到规劝对方共浴爱河的目的。
全诗共分三个诗节，环环相扣，层层递进。在第一诗节，抒情主人公力劝它的恋人注意跳蚤。由于这只跳蚤已经吮吸他们双方的血液，并在体内交融，她对他的拒绝就显得微不足道、无济于事了。在他看来，跳蚤已经帮助他们完成了血液的交融，而且，这不是罪孽，不算羞耻，更谈不上失贞。吮吸了他们血液的跳蚤，如同怀上享有父母双方血液的婴儿，身体“膨胀”起来。

译文如下:
跳蚤
约翰·邓恩
看呀，这只跳蚤，叮在这里，
你对我的拒绝多么微不足道；
它先叮我，现在又叮你，
我们的血液在它体内溶和；
你知道这是不能言说的
罪恶、羞耻、贞操的丢失，
它没有向我们请求就得到享受，
饱餐了我们的血滴后大腹便便，
这种享受我们无能企及。
住手，一只跳蚤，三条生命啊，
它的身体不只是见证我们的婚约。
还是你和我，我们的婚床，婚姻的殿堂；
父母怨恨，你不情愿，我们还是相遇，
并躲藏在黝黑的有生命的墙院里。
尽管你会习惯地拍死跳蚤，
千万别，这会杀了我，也增加你的自杀之罪，
杀害三条生命会亵渎神灵。
多么残忍，你毫无犹豫
用无辜的鲜血染红自己的指甲？
它不过吸了你一滴血
罪不至死啊？
你却以胜利者的口吻说
你我并没有因失血而有些虚弱；
的确，担心不过是虚惊一场：
接受我的爱，
你的名誉不会有丝毫损失，
就象跳蚤之死不会让你的生命有所损失。
http://www.yingyudaxue.com/book/the-flea
这是原文，蓝色标注出来的文字有注释，其他的不难理解。
http://www.yingyudaxue.com/book/the-flea-0
这是赏析