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Julia Crist

World Literature 6

5 March 2019

The Harsh Reality of Death.

The poem “No Man is an Island,” published in 1624, includes the thoughts of John

Donne as he is walking after his wife had recently passed away. Because of this, Donne aims to

emphasize the importance of life and that a long life is not guaranteed. The poem has three

stanzas with thirteen lines total. The poem was actually taken from an essay titled “Meditation

17.” It includes information about human life, how no man should live alone, no man is superior

to one another, and that one should not isolate oneself because one will never know when death

will come. In the poem “No Man is an Island,” John Donne uses the imagery, different types of

allusions, and an extended metaphor to emphasize the harsh reality of one’s purpose and

meaning in life.

To begin with, the sounds of words, line length, and shift in tone all emphasize the

harshness of death in the poem “No Man Is an Island.” The tone in the poem shifts from general

information to specific. At first, he is speaking about how humans are meant to live happily

together and no man is meant to be alone. He explains the value of all life and how every death

lessens him because he is part of mankind. But then he focuses on the ending of life and the

morality of humans. Eventually ending on the fact that death will come to everyone. The sounds

of words and alliteration play a part in the lines “death diminishes” and “tolls, it tolls for thee” to

emphasize how harsh death truly is (9, 12-13). Donne uses the hard sounds from the letters to

represent the relentless reality of eternal rest. Another secret representation is shown in the final
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line, “it tolls for thee” (13). As the shortest line of the poem overall, Donne uses it to symbolize

the shortness of life itself. The ending of the poem is abrupt, like death.

Next, Donne uses two different types of allusions to imply that humans were made from

dust and soil, and that death comes to everyone. The first allusion states “every man is a piece of

the continent, a part of the main” (2-3). This biblical allusion relates back to the book Genesis in

the Bible where God creates the first man from dust and soil. The sentence “piece of the

continent,” contains an underlying meaning from the words that allude to humans originating

from the Earth (2). Donne uses this poetic device to show that not only do men have a moral

purpose on this earth, they literally have a physical purpose too. A cultural allusion also makes

an appearance in the poem “No Man Is an Island.” Towards the very end of the poem, the last

two lines, Donne claims, “for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee” (12-13). In Catholic religions

and small towns, the tolling of the bells symbolizes a death within the community. People would

hear a church bell ringing and know that someone just died. This line also contains another

personal strike to humans with the word “thee” (13). These last few lines add a sense of morality

to the poem but send an eerie and unsettling feeling through our spines by reminding us that we

will also die, and we never know when.

For the last poetic device, Donne uses an extended metaphor about the Earth throughout

the first and second stanzas to explain that every person has meaning. In the poem he states:

“every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” (2-3). This highlights the point that all

people matter. Whether the person is a “clod,” an average or unimportant person, or a

“promontory,” a well-known person, each person has an important purpose on this Earth (4,6).

He also uses the word “manor” to show importance and high-class qualities in humans (7). This

metaphor has a very significant meaning in the scheme of the overall poem. It refers to the point
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that no man is meant to be alone and everyone is equally important. Donne uses this device

throughout the poem to explain that self-sufficiency is unneeded and everyone is connected to

one another. Everyone relies on others. When something happens to someone, even if it

happened on the other side of the world, it affects everybody.

Overall, imagery, allusions, and an extended metaphor illustrate the harshness and beauty

of life and death in John Donne’s poem “No Man Is an Island.” John Donne wrote this poem

after his wife had recently passed, which leads to why he speaks about the importance of all life.

It also reveals why the poem starts with life and ends with death. The use of many different

poetic devices illustrates the central idea that every man has a purpose on this earth. This poem

was first written in 1624; however, his words still inspire many today. It definitely motivates

people to go out and live the best life possible because death will come at any time, expected or

not. Every moment matters, so live life to the fullest!