Donne’s Meditation XVII Emphasizes Universal Connection

By Mark Hoerrner

Perhaps few of John Donne’s works are so easily recognized as Meditation 17 from his Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions. The phrase "No man is an island…" has been co-opted by books, television, and movies in order to convey the sense that all people are connected.

In fact, some have related the "No man is an island" passage to world events, specifically Hurricane Katrina and the 2005 Tsunami that took so many lives. The passage reads, "…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 bells tolls; it tolls for thee."

It is interesting to note here that Donne’s prose actually captures both the physical and non-physical elements of the two disasters, urging us to realize that people are not merely placed on the planet, but are part of something bigger than themselves. In a way, all people are connected, Donne theorizes, through the mere state of being. As he reflects, we see the clarity of his statement—each person on this planet is part of a family, then a village or town, and still a country and continent. The washing away of any part of that continent means that man feels a loss that reverberates, even if only metaphorically, throughout the consciousness of all mankind.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating charges that Donne makes is highlighted by University of Mary Washington Professor Gardner Campbell, who sees the overarching content of the lines which read: "all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another."

Campbell, during a free editorial commentary on his students, guides the reader (and listener to his podcast) toward the concept that Donne’s imagery of people as books is so overwhelmingly symbolic and profound as to be a better central point than the "No man is an island…" line. Here, we see mankind as books that can be closed, with information concealed, or mankind can be open to his neighbor and be read. The sharing of information then becomes a spiritual and physical torrent of related experiences.

What is unique to see is that many such philosophers that expounded on the universality of experience were not ultimately Christian, let alone Catholic. Donne is both and relates his experiences back to the hand of God. Additionally, it is the meditation Donne undergoes during this period of sickness that sees him giving glory to God rather than seeking to blame God for his illness. Ultimately, Donne propones, God is the author of all things and in that, all things are related to one another, so that the smallest loss is a loss to all humanity and not just the simple death of a single person or removal of a clod of dirt.