By John Donne
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 bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
A portrait of Donne as a young man, c. 1595, in the National Portrait Gallery, London
John Donne
Born: 22 January 1572, London, Died: 31 March 1631 (age 59 years), London, UK