8/12/2019 John Donne Meditation XVII
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XVII. MEDITATION
by John D onne
PERCHANCE he for w hom this bell tolls may be s o ill, as that
he kn ows not i t tolls for hi m; andperchance I may t hink myself
so much better than I am, as that they who are abou t me, and see m
ystate, may h ave cau sed it to toll for me, and I kn ow not that.
The ch urch is Catholic, universal, so areall her act ions; all
that s he d oes bel ongs t o all. When she b aptizes a ch ild, that
act ion concerns m e; forthat child is thereby connected to that
body which is my h ead too , and ingrafted into that body w hereofI
am a m ember. And when s he bu ries a m an, that action concerns
me: all mankind is of one author, andis one vo lume; when one m an
dies, one ch apter is not torn out of the b ook, but translated
into a b etterlanguage; and every chapter m ust be so translated;
God employs s everal translators; some p ieces aretranslated by
age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; bu t G od's h
and is in everytranslation, and his h and shall bind up all our s
cattered leaves agai n for t hat l ibrary w here every bookshall
lie o pen to one an other. As t herefore t he b ell that r ings t o
a se rmon calls n ot up on the p reacheronly, but upon the con
gregation to come, so this bel l calls us a ll; but how much more m
e, who ambrought so near the d oor by this s ickness. There w as a
con tention as far as a s uit (in which both pietyand dignity,
religion and estimation, were m ingled), which of the re ligious
orders should ring to prayersfirst i n the morning; an d it w as d
etermined, t hat t hey should ring first t hat r ose earliest. I f
w eunderstand aright the d ignity o f this bell that tolls f or ou
r even ing p rayer, we w ould be gl ad to make i tours by rising
early, in that ap plication, that i t m ight be ours as well as h
is, whose i ndeed it i s. The b elldoth toll for h im that t hinks
i t d oth; and though it i ntermit a gain, yet f rom that m inute
that t hatoccasion wrought upon him, he i s united t o G od. Who
cas ts not up his eye to t he sun when it rises? but
who takes off hi
upon any o ccasion rings? but who can remove i t from that bell
which is passing a p iece of himself out ofthis w orld?
No man is an island, entire o f itself; every man is a p iece o
f the co ntinent, a p art of t he m ain. If a cl odbe w ashed away
b y the se a, Europe i s the l ess, as well as if a p romontory
were, as well as if a m anor ofthy friend's or of thine ow n were:
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved i n
mankind,and therefore n ever s end to know for w hom the b ells t
olls; it t olls f or t hee. Neither ca n we cal l this abegging of
m isery, or a b orrowing of m isery, as though we w ere n ot m
iserable en ough of ou rselves, butmust fetch in more f rom the n
ext house, in taking u pon us the m isery o f our nei ghbours.
Truly i t were
an excusable co vetousness i f we d id, for af fliction is a t
reasure, and scarce an y man hath enough of it.No man hath
affliction enough that is not m atured and ripened by and made f it
for G od by thataffliction. If a m an carry tr easure i n bullion,
or i n a w edge o f gold, and have n one co ined into currentmoney,
his t reasu re w ill not de fray h im as h e tr avels. Tribulation
is t reasu re i n the n ature o f it, but it isnot cur rent money i
n the u se o f it, except w e get nearer and nearer our ho me,
heaven, by i t. Anotherman may b e s ick too, and sick to death,
and this affliction may l ie i n his bowels, as gold in a m ine,
andbe o f no use t o him; but this bel l, that tells m e o f his af
fliction, digs o ut and applies t hat gold to me: ifby t his
consideration of another's danger I take m ine ow n into
contemplation, and so secure m yself, bymaking m y recourse t o m y
G od, who i s our only security.
Literature N etwork John Donne Meditation XVII
