Certainly it is true that self-centredness and surprise are at the heart of Donne's poetry. This is especially true of "The Sunne Rising" and "The Flea". Self- centredness, that is, the persona placing his desires ahead of everything else, plays a pivotal role in molding Donne's work. This arrogance carries through in his conceit and hyperbole. In "The Sunne Rising" , Donne argues that the lovers are the world, whilst in "The Flea" the persona attempts to convince his lady that the loss of virginity means little. On the other hand, surprise, revealed through the originality of ideas and iconoclastic views gives Donne's work a 'shock' effect which is at the heart of shaping Donne's arguments in his poetry. The idea that a flea represents the unity of two is not only original and unconventional, but it also surprises and shocks it's readers.
             At the heart of Donne's arguments is self-centredness. This is important as argument represents Donne's poetry-it is his poetry. All arguments centre around the persona's desires. That is, the persona is the topic of the poems.
             Self-centredness is also revealed in Donne's work through his argument characterized by conceit. In "The Sunne Rising" the idea that the world of the two lovers represents the centre of the universe is highly self-centred. "She'is all states and all princess, I." The way in which this conceit is argued is via a multitude of self-centred arguments. Similarly, in "The Flea", Donne's conceit is that the flea represents the unity of marriage so therefore his mistress should give into his sexual demands. This is a highly self-centred argument and at the heart of his work. The poem, "The Sunne Rising" places the world of the lovers ahead of everything. In a patronizing manner, Donne abuses those forces which oppose the lovers- The most obvious being the restraint of time, often represented by 'the sunne'- Disregarding all the joys the 'sunne' gives to the world and to the lover...