Meditation 17

John Donne, one of the most famous English writers of the Jacobean Age, is the central figure of a group of 17th-century poets called the Metaphysical poets. These poets combined complex, unusual metaphors with philosophic and scientific allusions, their poems often focusing on metaphysical quandaries (hence the name “Metaphysical poetry”). Donne wrote “Meditation 17” in 1623 while he was deathly ill, and though it isn’t a poem, the sermon still explores the metaphysical mystery of death. Upon recuperating from what is generally believed to be typhus, Donne published a series of 23 sermons into a single volume titled Devotions upon Emergent Occasions in 1624. “Meditation 17” is most known for two of its frequently quoted lines: “for whom the bell tolls” and “no man is an island.” This study guide’s numbered line citations refer to prose sentences, beginning with the epigraph.

“Meditation 17” bears a Latin epigraph—“Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, morieris”—translating, “Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die” (Line 1). This event triggers a series of reflections by the author. Donne begins his sermon by engaging a pretense: A church bell is ringing, signifying someone’s death (a traditional ceremony of the church on these occasions).