I've heard this before, but I just read it in one of my textbooks while I was studying (I was typing stuff on the computer ayway) - so I thought it was worth putting up on the blog:
(ignore the old english)
"No man is an island, intire of its selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; 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 Mannor of they friends or of thine owne were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: It tolls for thee."
-John Donne 1572-1631.
Ok, the first and last parts are pretty clear.
Can someone explain to me the middle bits?
6 comments:
but im an island
well DERRRRR
you're not a man
haha
why thank you.
the middle stuff is just explaining the island comment... but i dont see how the last bit relates to all the rest...
Well- the whole thing is saying that we are all interrelated.
And the last bit is referring to ye olde practise of ringing church bells after someone died... as the saying goes "for whom the bell tolls".
But this is saying: dont ask for whom the bell tolls - it tolls for you. (ie. It wasnt just that someone else died - we all lost something as well - because none of us are our own little "island")
The concept is simple - the connectedness of humanity. The wording is just ye olde English (with similarly olde spelling). A clod refers to a bit of dirt, a promontory is a bit of rock that juts out of the sea, and a mannor refers to the landed estate of a lord. If any of these things are destroyed or removed, Europe as a whole loses something (no matter how small).
The analogy then runs that if any person dies, a part of ourself dies as well, because all of our lifestories are intertwined.
On another note, OHCM is gold for little tidbits/stories in and amongst all the clinical stuff, especially the early pages. I really liked the section on Corrigan's secret door :)
Do you have any favourites?
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