No Man Is An Island

The metaphysical poem reminding us of the human collective

John Donne, an English poet, scholar, and soldier masterfully depicts his ideas on the morals of mankind, communicating the ideas of life and death in this short poem, “No Man is An Island”, expressing his thoughts on humanity as a collective.

Without a further ado, we shall evaluate this piece!

Long Story Short

Donne was born around 1571 in England to a Roman Catholic family, back when the practice of the religion was unlawful. He was of Welsh descent, and was the middle child of six children. At the tender age of four, his father, John Donne, had died, leaving the children to their mother, Elizabeth Heywood. A few months later, Heywood married the wealthy widower John Syminges.

Donne had a private education, and at age 11, attended Hart Hall, now better known as Hertford College. Three years later, he attended the University of Cambridge, where he would study for the next few years. After he had graduated, his attempts to obtain a degree were in vain due to the fact that he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, which meant he had to give up his Roman Catholic beliefs. Fortunately, he was able to attend the Thavies Inn legal school.

In 1593, as the Spanish Armada neared an end, Queen Elizabeth issued an English Statue that discriminated against recusants, leading to the arrest of Donne’s brother, Henry - shortly after Henry’s stay in Newgate prison, he died of the bubonic plague, making Donne deeply question his beliefs.

Donne traveled a lot of Europe during the next few years, spending most of his inheritance on pastimes and literature. He grew fluent in Italian and Spanish, and fought battles alongside the Earl of Essex. In his early 20s, he was appointed chief secretary to the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Thomas Egerton, who was in charge of the physical custody of the Great Seal of England.

As a young man, he fell in love with Egerton’s niece Anne More even though Egerton strongly disapproved of it. They wedded secretively a few days before christmas. Once Egerton came to know, he immediately fired Donne and had him arrested along with the priest that had officiated Donne’s marriage. This event undoubtedly ruined Donne’s career.

After his release from prison, he lived with his wife in a small home in Mitcham, where he had a meager job as a lawyer and 11 mouths to feed before any food could reach his. At some point Donne considered suicide.

Soon, after the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a period of fame for coterie poetry gave Donne a chance to seek patronage. He wrote for wealthy friends and patrons and over the next few decades was the most prolific of his life. In 1624, Donne published the poem “No man is an island”.

John Donne died in 1631, and rests forever in old St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Writing

The poem begins with an abrupt, similar to most metaphysical poems:

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

This creates the metaphor that we will use for the rest of the poem, and establishes that no individual is entire of themselves, or fully completed by just their souls and bodies.

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

Now this verse adds on, talking about how every man is a piece of the continent a part of a “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.

If a part of this continent were to be washed away, Europe as a whole would decrease, and Donne compares this top our home or a friends home being washed away by something.

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 says that because he is a part of mankind, any death diminishes him, and when he refers to a bell tolling, he refers to death, so when someone dies, their bells tolls for not only them but for us too.

The Theme

No one is “an island” or their own body in the sense that no one is apart from from this metaphorical “continent”; just by being human, everyone is part of humanity.