The Flea

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou, know’st that this cannot be said	5
A sin, nor shame, nor 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,	10
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 are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet,	15
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?	20
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st, and say’st that thou
Find’st not thy self nor me the weaker now;
‘Tis true, then learn how false fears be;	25
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

1	Mark 注意。
3-4	說明為何那位女士的拒絕沒有什麼意義。因為跳蚤先後吸吮了兩個人的血，使兩個人的血在跳蚤體內混合。在文藝復興時期，醫學上相信性交時血的混合會懷孕生子。
6	maidenhead 童貞；處女膜。
8	pampered swells 暗示懷孕。pampered：飲食過量的意思。
9	意思是說在跳蚤體內所發生的比我們所期望的還多。即說還是懷孕了。
10	three…spare 即spare three lives in one flea. Spare：饒命。Three lives指詩中人，他的情人和胎兒。
14	這一行是說雖然她的父母和她都不願答應，他們還是在跳蚤的體內結合了。
15	cloistered cloister當名詞解釋是修道院，大教堂等迴廊，也可以解釋做修道院；若做動詞解釋則有隱遁或幽閉於修道院中的意思。此處與13行的marriage temple相呼應，暗示在跳蚤體內，他們與外世隔絕，共享他們兩人之間的快樂。
15	these living walls of jet 這些活生生的黑玉之。即指在跳蚤體內。jet：漆黑，黑玉。
16	use custom；慣例，禮教。
17-18	即Let self-murder and sacrilege not be added to three sins in killing three. 在象徵上，那隻跳蚤既是詩中人又是那位女士，更是他們婚姻的聖堂，共享他們兩人之間的快樂。
23-24	在這兩行中，詩中人引述那位女士的話。她在打死跳蚤後，得意的辯稱兩個人並沒有因此而「弱」了什麼。
26-27	這兩行在說如女的委身給他，也不過像她打死跳蚤一樣只是損失一點血而已。此處暗示既然兩人的血在跳蚤的體內混合於人無害，則二人做愛一次又有什麼損失呢？