- There was a common belief that having sex took years off the end of your life.
- The addressee then kills the flea, and because she killed the flea they both should feel weaker (because the idea is that the flea represented sex and by killing the flea they have completed/killed sex and therefore should feel weaker because years have been taken off their lives).
- Since they don't feel weaker the speaker's reasoning must be wrong.
- The speaker then agrees that sex doesn't make them weaker, but the addressee (because he/she is afraid of losing honor) will only lose as much honor as life that was lost from flea.
- This is the most popular form of Cavalier poems called "Carpe Diem" for their seize the day ideology.
The Canonization
- Canonization- the process by which the church declares a person a saint.
- The poem is set up to be religious in nature from the title and the use of God in the first line.
- However, by the end of the first line love becomes the main theme? <-- may not be theme.
- First stanza starts with an argument, the speaker is yelling at the addressee. The speaker wants the addressee to stay out of his/her love life. The speaker would rather the addressee mock the speaker's shaking or joint problems, or age, or loss of fortune.
- The speaker then says that the addressee should take up the arts instead of being involved in his/her love life.
Please add anything extra that you may remember. Thanks.
-Matt
