Comparison Between John Donne's "The Flea" and "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

The poem 'The Flea' by John Donne is an example of a monologue. However, instead of being a dramatic monologue, it is known as a dramatic lyric. Through the ideas of the speaker being a man, who is addressing the poem to a woman, and the use of the flea, which causes the speaker's words to change as the poem progresses, it can be seen that 'The Flea' is a dramatic lyric poem, where the …

…of the persona. At this juncture, the persona claims that to tell "the laity," or the common people, of his love would be to profane its sacred nature, and he is clearly condescending of the dull sublunary love of other lovers. The purpose of this dichotomy is to create a form of emotional aristocracy. This emotional aristocracy that Donne creates shows superiority of their love and how his travels will not affect it at all.