Question

What does the phrase "purpled thy nail" refer to in this excerpt from "The Flea" by John Donne?

Answer 1

It is the loss of the beloved's innocence symbolized by the flea because later in that stanza, the beloved is obviously represented by the flea. Also the theme of the poem is sex and virtue, the loss of innocence is key.

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Answer 2

Answer:

The phrase "purpled thy nail" refers to the shared blood of the speaker and his beloved in the flea.

Explanation:

"The Flea" by John Donne is a poem where a lover wants to have premarital sex and in his attempts to convince her beloved one they get bitten by a flea, which he uses as reference of their blood together as one inside of the insect and then when he receives a negative answer and he tries to kill the insect and his lover says that would be sui*cide and a murder because it has their blood in it, he told her that it doesn't have a major importance to kill the insect as it doesn't have it to love each other before marriage.