Wednesday, July 2, 2008

No man is an island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each 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 manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

These famous words by John Donne were not originally written as a poem - the passage is taken from the 1624 Meditation 17, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and is prose.

3 comments:

Somebody said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Somebody said...

Thanks for sharing.I had come across tidbits of this before, but not in entirety. Very profound and an answer to those who say one's existence bears no consequence on the cosmos,well that may be true. This is a good point of view resembling 'Butterfly effect'.

b luis grey said...

This is a very beautiful poem. I like how one man matters even in a multiverse of man[kind].