John Donne, Meditation XVII from Quotes

A collection of quotes by John Donne, Meditation XVII from.

John Donne, Meditation XVII is a well-known literary work by the English poet and cleric, John Donne (1572-1631). Born into a Roman Catholic family, Donne converted to Anglicanism and later became one of the prominent figures of metaphysical poetry. Meditation XVII, part of his larger collection Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, explores the themes of interconnectedness and human mortality. It contains the famous phrase "No man is an island," emphasizing the idea that every individual's life is interconnected with others. Donne's works are known for their intellectual depth, complex metaphors, and exploration of profound emotions.

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; 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 promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's 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.

John Donne, Meditation XVII from

Humanity