By Maria Millers
Donne has always been one of my favourite poets. For someone who lived in the late 16th and early 17th century his poetry still speaks loudly to modern concerns. Such is the timeless power of great poetry.
No Man Is an Island is not really a poem, but part of a sermon delivered by Donne, as an Anglican Priest in 1623, at a time when he was seriously ill.
We could call it a prose poem but it appears consistently in anthologies set out in stanzas as a poem.
His message is so relevant for an age when rampant individualism is lauded and encouraged. And yet, during the pandemic we learnt the hard way what Donne essentially argues in this poem: that people need each other; that community is important not only for our physical needs but also for our psychological wellbeing. We are after all social animals that thrive on human contact and depend on each other.
As he points out: No man is an island; Entire of itself
Today what occurs on the other side of a shrinking globalized world is not only instantly available to us but can impinge on our lives in many different ways, so it’s not really an option to ignore the many challenges that exist, both environmental and political.
This week there were two disasters: the Earthquake in Morocco and floods of biblical proportions in Lybia. Thousands have died and thousands are still missing: both events far removed from concerns of most Australians, grappling with day to day problems.
Donne reminds us however, that Any man’s death diminishes me; Because I am involved in mankind
For some the disasters may be just a disruption to travel plans in the case of Morocco, but for others it may bring a new awareness that perhaps such cataclysmic events could be somehow related to our actions, however faraway they occur.
Donne’s world was much more confined but he understood that events elsewhere mattered:
If a clod be washed away by the sea ; Europe is the less
His final words are a reminder that in the end we all face the same fate:
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
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 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
Submissions to the Woorilla Prize 2023 close 30th September
Join us for a free online streaming event showcasing previous winners and judges on Sunday 24th September at 2pm.
