Question

What does the phrase "purpled thy nail" refer to in this excerpt from "The Flea" by John Donne? Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? an injury the speaker's beloved incurred as he wooed her the shared blood of the speaker and his beloved in the flea the loss of the beloved's innocence symbolized by the flea the beloved's sudden cruel treatment of the speaker

Answer 1

I believe this phrase refers to the loss of the beloved's innocence symbolized by the flea.
The flea is a metaphor - there is no flea in the poem really, but rather it refers to these two people having sex for the first time. So when the woman kills the flea, she actually loses her innocence and virginity by sleeping with the narrator. 

Answer 2

Answer:

• The shared blood of the speaker and his beloved in the flea

Explanation:

The poem" The Flea " composed by John Donne is about a sweetheart needing to have pre-marriage sex with his darling however is denied this, so he thinks about this worthlessness of the darling slaughtering the insect to the purposelessness of their devouring and sharing their affection.  

The right answer is the second option, since later in that stanza, the adored is obviously spoken to by the bug. Additionally, the topic of the sonnet is sex and virtue, the loss of innocence is vital.