a. Title and Author
a. Meditation 17 by: John Donne
b. A Brief overview of the content
a. Each person in the world is part of one another through the church. When
something happens to someone it hurts everyone. The church bells ring in
honor of a member in the community who shouldn’t be forgotten by anyone.
No one should be forgotten rather translated into heaven.
c. Detailed breakdown
Lines
Explanations
“PERCHANCE he for whom this bell Perhaps the bell rings in honor of
tolls may be so ill, as that he knows someone who is ill. He may not know
not it tolls for him; and perchance I it is ringing for him because he is not
may think myself so much better
alive anymore. I compare myself to
than I am, as that they who are
this person. Those around me might
about me, and see my state, may
ask the bell ringer to ring the bell for
have caused it to toll for me, and I
me because I won’t know whether
know not that. “
the bell is for me or this ill man.
“The church is Catholic, universal,
so are all her actions; all that she
does belongs to all. When she
baptizes a child, that action
concerns me; for that child is
thereby connected to that body
which is my head too, and ingrafted
into that body whereof I am a
member. “
The church is a part of everyone.
Everything the church does involve
me because I am a part of the church.
If the church baptizes a child, it
concerns me because I am now a
part of the child.
“And when she buries a man, that
action concerns me: 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;”
When a man is buried it concerns me
because I am in a way a part of this
man. Each person when they die are
not forgotten but, translated into a
better language.
“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
God has arranges each person’s life
ahead of time. The way they die
whether it is by age, sickness, war or
justice. God will put each death
together in the scattered pages of his
book.
book shall lie open to one another.”
“As therefore the bell that rings to a
sermon calls not upon the preacher
only, but upon the congregation to
come, so this bell calls us all; but
how much more me, who am
brought so near the door by this
sickness.”
The bell ringing calls everyone to the
congregation not just the preacher.
This loss is a part of each person
because we are piece of each
person’s life.
“If we understand aright the dignity
of this bell that tolls for our evening
prayer, we would be glad to make it
ours by rising early, in that
application, that it might be ours as
well as his, whose indeed it is. The
bell doth toll for him that thinks it
doth; and though it intermit again,
yet from that minute that that
occasion wrought upon him, he is
united to God.”
The bell rings for the man that thinks
it rings for him although he may not
hear it because he is not with us
anymore. God has taken his life now.
“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, 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.”
A person should not feel lonely or
separated from the rest of the world.
If a person was separated from the
rest of the world it makes the
population much smaller. The whole
population should be a large group.
“Truly it were an excusable
covetousness if we did, for affliction
is a treasure, and scarce any man
hath enough of it. No man hath
affliction enough that is not
matured and ripened by and made
fit for God by that affliction.”
Pain and suffering is a treasure and
hardly any men get enough pain and
suffering in life. God helps give us
enough pain in life and also helps us
mature and ripen.
When a man dies a part of me has
dies with him because he is a part of
the large group of people in the
world. Without him this large group
becomes smaller.
“if by this consideration of another's As I look at another’s danger and
danger I take mine own into
contemplation, and so secure
myself, by making my recourse to
my God, who is our only security.”
d.
e.
f.
g.
think about my own I will keep
myself safe by looking to God who is
my only security.
a.
A list of all significant literary devices
a. Metaphysical Conceit- a metaphor of two different ideas combined into one,
often through the use of imagery
i. “…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…”
1. This quote describes humankind as a book and every person is
a chapter and god is the author of this book.
b. Simile- a comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’
i. “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…”
1. This is a comparison of a part of the continent being washed
away to the death a person
Tone explanation
a. The tone is meditative the author is talking about death and mourning. He is
calm and is thinking about everything that is going on around him. He also
takes the time to think about God, religion and his health.
Theme
a. The theme would be a connection to others. When a person dies it affects
everyone in the population. Each person is a part of the whole picture.
MLA citation
Works Cited
J19951112. "Meditation 17 Translation - Flattened." Scribd. N.p., 16 Feb. 2012. Web.
09 Dec. 2012.
Lah, Emmanuel. "Meditation 17 Translation - Flattened." Scribd. N.p., 13 Feb. 2012.
Web. 09 Dec. 2012.