In Response To Meditation XVII
Lynda Taylor
Professor Pentecost
11 February, 2015
Composition 1301
When the Bell rings for the deceased
Meditation XVII (17) was a piece John Donne used to understand death by the same theories that many religious people use today. His thoughts before death were highly connected to god along with his town who dealt with death regularly. Donne’ religious influence is at fault for obscuring the reality of his situation, but it is the only concept that he has a secure grip on during his illness.
The concept Donne comes up with is used naturally in his text to ensure the readers understanding: “The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all. When she baptizes a child…for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member.”
Donne’s concept was that those in the same belief are intertwined, or connected to each other and later in his text he begins to place this concept in his village to give a broader acuity.
One of his more popular quotes on the unity of body & soul is a metaphor to Europe and its land. “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.”
When introduced to the symbolism In Meditation 17 there is always a constant ringing of a bell:
“he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.”-Donne on the subject of his sickness.
When study this text it is evident to the reader to see the symbolism of the bell, which is a constant representation of death during his time, along with the emotional influence it takes on Donne. It can be confusing to
Professor Pentecost
11 February, 2015
Composition 1301
When the Bell rings for the deceased
Meditation XVII (17) was a piece John Donne used to understand death by the same theories that many religious people use today. His thoughts before death were highly connected to god along with his town who dealt with death regularly. Donne’ religious influence is at fault for obscuring the reality of his situation, but it is the only concept that he has a secure grip on during his illness.
The concept Donne comes up with is used naturally in his text to ensure the readers understanding: “The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all. When she baptizes a child…for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member.”
Donne’s concept was that those in the same belief are intertwined, or connected to each other and later in his text he begins to place this concept in his village to give a broader acuity.
One of his more popular quotes on the unity of body & soul is a metaphor to Europe and its land. “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.”
When introduced to the symbolism In Meditation 17 there is always a constant ringing of a bell:
“he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.”-Donne on the subject of his sickness.
When study this text it is evident to the reader to see the symbolism of the bell, which is a constant representation of death during his time, along with the emotional influence it takes on Donne. It can be confusing to