The Persuasive Tone of the Flea John Donne, a member of the 17th century metaphysical school, showed his brilliant talent in poetry. In "La Pulce", he showed passion to his lover through a persuasive attitude. The tone might directly create playfulness or sinfulness; however, the poem contains neither. What impresses readers most is the situation and the device. The situation between the speaker and the audience is persuasion, love or marriage. As for the device, the notable parts are the diction and rhetoric skills. Furthermore, the unique characteristics of this poem are also an important element of its persuasive tone. First of all, the situation created by Donne is remarkable. Although there is only one speaker in “The Pulce,” the poem itself reveals a profound interaction between speaker and audience. Here's an example: "Mark this flea, and mark this" (line 1) and "Oh stay, three lives in a spare flea" (line 10). In the first line, the poet asked his demure lover to notice a flea and explain that the flea symbolized the combination of their love. While, when the poem continues to the first line of the second stanza, the lady ignores Donne's enthusiasm by intending to kill the flea. From the two lines, it shows the woman's emotional reaction to Donne's persuasion, which provokes her impulse by applying a poetic device in the poem. One of Donne's famous poetic devices is diction. Again in lines one and ten, “Mark” and “Oh stay” appear. These words denote a strong causative voice to attract the attention of the mistress. Besides diction, another outstanding characteristic is his rhetorical skill. For example, “First he sucked me and now he sucks you” (line 3). Its different use... middle of paper...86) 93.iv[iv] Helen Gandner, ed., John Donne: A Collection of Critical Essays. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1962) 47. Works Cited Dyson, AE. Women: Songs and Sonnets. Houndmills: Macmillan Education, 1973.Gandner, Helen, ed. John Donne: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1962. Larson, Deborah Aldrich. John Donne and twentieth-century criticism. Cranbury: Associated University Press, 1989.Marotti, Arthur F.. John Donne: Coterie Poet. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1986. Novarr, David. The Muse Unearthed: Texts and Contexts by Donne. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1980. Nutt, Joe. John Donne: The Poems. London: Macmillan Press, 1999. Witherspoon Alexander M. and Warnke Frank J., eds. Seventeenth-century prose and poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963, 2 °.