10 May 2009

This is John Donne (1572-1631). He also wrote erotic poems (yes!) but more of it later.
He was born in a big island, Great Britain.


"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."

3 comments:

  1. I just stubled across a favorite phrase of mine today while cleaning of my desk: We live in a world of Transformation, not loss or gain. It made me think of this island and this particular phrase: 'any man's death diminishes me'. It crossed my mind that death is diminishing and not transformative. However, as the poem states: 'Every man is a piece of the continent', therefore ones death means anothers life or at the least a change in dynamic, being in itself indicative of transformation. Quite a paradox indeed. Any thoughts on this paradoxical contradiction??

    ReplyDelete
  2. corrections for typos:
    *stubled-stumbled
    *of-off

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is this blog only for American or English people living in Lisbon?
    I'm a fan of poetry myself but my favourite is in Portuguese.
    Vanessa

    ReplyDelete

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