Even though Donne was a religious person, he still had temptations and encounters with women, such as in the poem "Good Morrow." In the poem "The Flea," Donne uses a flea, blood, and the murder of the flea as an analogy for sex. The flea is a metaphor for the act of sex from the beginning, "Mark but this flea, and mark in this, how little that which deniest me is" the woman denies him sex. The flea relates to other metaphors, such as blood. Donne states that the flea and the woman's blood were mixed, therefore during sex they became one. After the woman kills the flea he asks her if she has "purpled her nail in the blood of innocence". Here, Donne asks the woman if having sex (killing the flea) lost her innocence. When the flea and the woman's blood are mixed, Donne asks the woman not to kill the flea, symbolizing an orgasm. The line, "just so much honor when thou yeild'st to me, will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee," states how having sex will not diminish either of their lives and the woman will not be giving up anything. There are certainly erotic moments in Donne's writing, such as in "To His Mistress, on Going to Bed." Donne's strong love for his wife allows him to write creative sexual and metaphysical love poems.
Within 1601 and 1617, John Donne seemed to be obsessed with the idea of death, like in the poem "Death's Duel," and with themes of repentance and judgment. Some of his writings show an acceptance of life and bitterness toward the world. In his work "Death Be Not Proud," he mocks death making it powerless to him. Donne says death should not feel proud, because even though it is called "mighty and dreadful," it is not. Donne thinks sleeping is like little copies of death and are pleasurable. Therefore, death itself must be even more pleasurable so their bones and souls rest. When one dies, they eventually awake into eternal life, where death itself no longer exist and dies.
