For Whom The Bell Tolls Poem (By John Donne)

For whom the bell tolls poem was written as prose at first but has evolved into poetry over time. Keep reading to find yourself in an amazing adventure.

For Whom the Bell Tolls Poem

Donne addresses mankind, challenging everyone to reevaluate how they see themselves and their relationships with others.

Donne develops a meditative and thoughtful mood and tone while being plain enough to express the fundamental concepts of ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’

The poem “For Whom the Bell Tolls” discusses how all humans are interconnected. The poem continues by stating that the bell tolls for thee.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each 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 thine own

Or of thine friend’s were.

Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

by John Donne

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Summary

Donne starts with the difficulty of isolation. “No guy is an island,” he says. Everyone is linked to everyone else. So much so that each setback is significant.

He expands on the metaphor by comparing the loss of a human being to the loss of a continent piece. This focus on interconnectedness is carried on in the next lines.

The author addresses himself in the poem, and he pleads that when the bell tolls, one should not worry about who it is tolling for. It’s ringing for everyone. The death of one person is the death of all.

Detailed Analysis

Lines 1-4

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

The speaker opens ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls/No Man is an Island’ with a crisp and memorable opening sentence. “No guy is an island,” he says. Nobody is completely isolated from the rest of the world.

Every human person is a component of a larger whole. Donne then moves on to one of his well-known metaphorical conceits. He compares humans, and their interconnectedness with one another and the rest of the planet, to landmasses that form part of a continent. They are all “in the main.”

Lines 5-8

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 thine own

The notion is maintained in the next quatrain. He adds to it in these words, noting that if the continent lost anything, from a “promontory” to a “clod” or a “manor,” it would be smaller.

This is related to humans and how each loss or death is damage to the total. Because humans are inextricably linked, they cannot afford to be careless with one another’s lives.

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Lines 9-14

Or of thine friend’s were.

Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

Donne expands on his earlier assertions in the sestet, the sonnet’s final six lines, by adding that not just “thy” loss is important, but also “thine companions.” When one person is hurt, everyone suffers.

The poem then shifts to the first person, when the author addresses himself and his relationship with “mankind.” He describes “every man’s death” as weakening him. He is “engaged” in the operations of humanity.

The final three sentences deal directly with death and what it implies when a fresh death occurs. He utilizes the idea of a church bell ringing to represent death. When the phone rings, he tells the listener not to question “For whom” it tolls since it “tolls for” you. When someone dies, it feels as though everyone has perished.

Structure

‘For Whom the Bell Tolls/No Man is an Island,’ by John Donne, is a fourteen-line sonnet that does not adhere to either the Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet forms.

The rhyme structure is disjointed, with just a few obvious end rhymes such as “sea,” “me,” and “thee.” Donne also avoided using a precise metrical scheme. The lines differ in length, which is rare for a sonnet.

Near the end of the poem, there is a marked turn or volta. Donne shifts narrative viewpoints and considers his own place in the world. He also addresses the audience, encouraging them to reconsider their perception of what it means to be human.

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Poetic Devices

There are no rhymes or regular meters. The section comes from John Donne’s Meditation XVII and was not originally intended to be a poem in its own right.

Lines 1-4 of Extended Metaphor relate a “man” to a chunk of a continent.

Lines 5-9 feature a simile equating a clod being carried away by sea to a person’s death.

1. Allusion

There is an allusion in lines 12-13. Major municipal events were announced by the tolling of the bells before radios, newspapers, and televisions. Donne’s reference to bell-tolling in the poem is to funeral bells. A tolling bell might also represent someone who is dying.

2. Line Length

The poem’s brief last line underlines the poem’s theme that when one person dies, a part of everyone dies.

3. Word choice

Notice the harsh t-sound in the last line as opposed to the rolling w and l sounds in the prior line. The transition surprises the reader and emphasizes the point in the final sentence.

4. Sounds in the Last Line

The harsh-sounding long e jolts the reader after he’s been lulled by the soothing long o in tolls, putting more emphasis on the last word.

Lines seven and eight include anaphora, which is the repeating of words at the beginning of sentences or phrases.

5. Alliteration

“Death decreases” in line 10 emphasizes the poem’s idea of interconnectedness and how when one suffers, all suffer.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls Poem (By John Donne)