... argument. The Flea's subject itself conveys the literal sense of the metaphysical, with the flea representing much more beyond that of its physical state, which is perhaps one of the reasons that Donne's poems, as will be explored, are such powerful examples of the poetic manner of his period and the metaphysical genre as a whole. The title of the poem defines the conceit within the piece, and it is immediate within the first stanza that his carefully constructed argument will take place in form of contrast and comparison between the inanimate object of the flea, and the much more contentious subject of virginity and premarital sex. Metaphysical poets were at the time influenced by the renaissance movement and questions about religious morals - one of which being abstinence until marriage, and this subject was popularly argued during the renaissance period. Typical of Donne's style as a metaphysical poet, he uses ...

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