No man is an island
No man is an island,
entire of itself.
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends
or of thine own were.
any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send
to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.
‘No Man Is An Island’ John Donne (1624)
Critical Analysis:
Meaning
Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. Donne was a Christian but this concept is shared by other religions, principally Buddhism.
Origin
This is a quotation from John Donne (1572-1631). It appears in Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII:
“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
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