People usually think that the phrase ‘No man is an island’ comes from Shakespeare, as it sounds like it is one of Shakespeare’s many famous lines. It also sounds as though it may have come from the Bible. There are hundreds of quotations similarly mistaken as Shakespeare’s, such as “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” that comes from a Restoration play, The Mourning Bride by William Congreve
‘No man is an island’ is an idiom taken from a 17th century sermon by the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. The Dean happened to be John Donne, a clergyman who now, almost four hundred years later, is regarded as one of the greatest English poets.
It is often assumed that ‘no man is an island’ is from one of Donne’s poems: it’s ironic that though he is the author of some of the finest and most memorable verses in English poetry, this phrase, not from a poem, but a sermon, is the most famous quote from him.
Here is the full John Done quote from his sermon:
“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 any manner 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
Background to John Donne’s ‘No man is an island’ sermon
The words ‘No man is an island’ were embedded in a deeply Christian sermon about how human beings are connected to each other, and how important that connection is for the wellbeing and survival of any individual. When you hear the church bell tolling for someone who has died, don’t ask who it is, Donne says, just know that it’s tolling for you too because you are part of the same society and the death of anyone takes a part of your own life away.
The sermon is noted, not just for ‘no man is an island,’ but also the phrase ‘for whom the bell tolls,’ which was used by Ernest Hemingway as the title of his most famous novel.
John Donne and the development of English poetry
As Shakespeare was nearing the end of his playwriting career there was a new poetry taking hold in English. It was written by poets who were not professional writers but highly educated men who had careers in other areas like the Church, business, diplomacy, and the military.
Their poetry reflected their education and they used the latest developments in science, geography, astronomy, etc. to make their imagery: their poems had a strong intellectual component. Shakespeare himself, never for a moment one of the many poets who became old-fashioned in the face of the new poetry, became a part of this poetic development, which we now call ‘metaphysical poetry’ and the poets “the metaphysical poets,”. In fact, some of Shakespeare’s verse in his poems and plays were models for the metaphysical poets.
The metaphysical poets did not regard their poetry writing as meaning that they were “poets” in the sense that men like John Milton and Edmund Spencer were – they were busy men in their own fields who wrote poems more as a hobby, not publishing them but passing them around to friends who also wrote poems. In that way, they influenced each other. Looking at their poems now there are striking similarities, which amounts to their being a ‘school’ of poetry – ‘the metaphysical poets.’
When we look back now at the metaphysical poets John Donne is, without doubt, the best of them. His poems are powerful and beautiful, mainly about love, but becoming some of the most powerful religious poems like his sonnets ‘Batter my heart three person’d God,’ ‘At the round earth’s imagined corners blow your trumpets angels’ and ‘Death be not proud, though some have called you mighty and dreadful’.
That development from love to religious poetry reflects Donne’s career and personal development. He trained as a lawyer then embarked on a life of adventure as a soldier and explorer, becoming well known as a man about town, popular with women. He settled down at the age of 25 as a high-level secretary, where he fell in love with his wealthy employer’s niece Anne More. He married her secretly, which enraged her uncle: the couple had to disappear. Donne wrote a small verse to describe their plight: “John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone.”
The pair went to London where Donne eked out a meager living until he was elected to parliament in 1602. In the 16 years of their marriage, Anne gave birth to 12 children, dying during the birth of the twelfth.
After several years as a member of parliament, Donne converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism, took holy orders, and entered the church, eventually becoming the Dean of St Pauls, where he wrote and delivered a great number of wonderful sermons.
His sermons, as powerful as his poems, are full of lines and ideas that indicate an intense life, profound thoughts, and a strong sense of humour. Some other famous lines from his sermons are:
“When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language”
“And who understands? Not me, because if I did I would forgive it all.”
“Death is an ascension to a better library”
“Reason is our soul’s left hand, faith her right. By these we reach divinity”
“He that hath all can have no more.”
Of all of John Donne’s quotes – from his sermons and poetry, “No man is an island” stands apart as the most perfect expression of an individual’s position in relation to society.
amazing job
Is the translation of “Manor” in Donne’s original to “manner” correct? He didn’t mean “Manor” as a piece of land with houses and farms?
“if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine owne were”
A clod of earth is a small part of the fields that comprise an estate, or Manor… So I think you are altogether correct to think Donne is speaking of the importance of a seemingly insignificant part of the whole. Thanks and well done.
Your’s is a question answered by context…. which inarguably confirms “manor” relates to one’s homestead, estate, or property.
Who said or wrote:
“Man. man, one can not live entirely without pity”
although I have always been an outsider, even in childhood not belonging to the places I lived as I had moved around since age 9yr old,
since may 2001 I have lived a very secluded life almost a recluse most of the time. I saw people for an hour and a half some days. but they didn’t talk to me often. I had very little contact with those I saw in the self-help place I went to for help around problems I had. That became a way of life for me and became the only place I went where humans were.
most kept back from me there. And I was told they all hated me.
I never knew them.
And the family grew up left home got their own lives and got busy and had very little time to spare to see me. and some families lived far away. for personal reasons I didn’t want to get involved with the men who asked,
in the past 22 years, I have had very little involvement with men,
I was lonely at first for a few years, however, I became used to it, I broke through the loneliness barrier. learned to enjoy my own company. However I found that my mental health was getting worse and worse, though I had no feeling of loneliness,
I was becoming crazy in my mind. somewhat like tom Hank in the movie where he is shipwrecked on a desert island and has only a football to talk to. isolation. recently I went back to the old church that I had been in when I was a young woman. and my mental health has improved, the love of the brothers and sisters there is like no other love I have ever known before, the acceptance. I have not known before. I am still having a bit of a problem with mixing in due to the prolonged isolation I have lived in. but I am improving slowly.
i know what it feels like to be an island.
What a fascinating, sad, yet heart-warming journey you’ve had.
Stay encouraged and keep pressing forward sister.. Life is difficult but also brings wonderful triumphs.
You speak very eloquently; as if you are a poet. I can relate to your anguish and I sincerely wish I could express myself as you do… I greatly admire your ability to express yourself. That being said… some food for thought: Life is a series of challenges… those challenges are more difficult for those of us who think differently. I truly believe there are few things we can change in life; however, the most life-changing innate power we possess is the ability to change our thoughts… and thereby change our lives. Wishing you nothing but peace and contentment… what true
happiness is. ❤️
I’m glad for you, sister. I know what it’s like to be an outsider too. Thank God for true friends!
It’s noteworthy that John Donne speaks of ‘Europe’ not ‘England’.