2006-07-25 16:30:34 · 11 answers · asked by StageMgr4u 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
It is the last of the quote from John Donne which begins "No man is an island..." The idea is that no person is a single individual living unto themselves. We are all members of a world-wide community, a global organism, if you will, and everthing we do affects everyone else as much as it affects us. And its affect on others affects us and that affect on us in turns affects others and so on. And so, to end the quote, we should send not (not enquire) "For whom is the bell tolling (ringing)?" For it tolls for me, it tolls for thee, indeed, it tolls for us all.
2006-07-26 14:50:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
The idea of tolling of the bell comes from the practice people would indulge in of going to the village/town church to ring the bell to announce that someone had died. So, the tolling of the bell would likely evoke the question: "Who died?" That is the context in which the poet is writing. So Donne is saying, as some other posters have commented, that we are all interconnected and are all affected by what happens to someone else; hence, you need not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for you, since you too are affected by the passing of another human being.
2014-08-09 05:26:25 · answer #2 · answered by Tony 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Tolls Definition
2016-09-29 01:32:49 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The bell tolls for someone's death in the poem. In fact, all of life is interconnected.
... 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...
John Donne.
http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poem=15914
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 manner 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.
2006-07-25 16:38:52 · answer #4 · answered by Maureen F 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The bell tolls means death and it tolls for thee means you've died
2006-07-25 16:36:05 · answer #5 · answered by cin_ann_43 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
The BELL, tolls the DEATH knell, and apparently anyone would ask,,, Is that for me???
When the end is apparent, rarely does anyone accept it initially.
2006-07-25 16:36:35 · answer #6 · answered by DIY Doc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Hypo...it is a butterfly effect applied on a relationship between human kind.
2016-03-16 22:50:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
read this site..totally explains...http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/for-whom-the-bell-tolls.html
basically when people are seeing bad things done...war, fascism, unless it personally affects them they do not do anything...the phrase is really a call to arms...a call to stand up to do justice for people
i guess i should clarify I'm referring to the ernest hemingway novelization/movie...not donne...
2006-07-25 16:36:19 · answer #8 · answered by Chef Susy--Cookin it up! 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It has something to do with the the person saying it being the one who is dying.
2006-07-25 16:35:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it means : It's time to step and do what needs to be done. dont look for help, dont pawn it off on someone else. YOU do it.
2006-07-25 16:38:03 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋