Wednesday, March 9, 2011

For Whom The Bell Tolls

I must confess I read this poem in another blog and just wanted to share it with you.   Firstly, I want to dedicate this to my friend who farewells her Mother tomorrow after a brave and courageous fight with cancer.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (No Man is an Island) by John Donne

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 manor 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.

I also wanted to talk about my own personal perspective on this poem.  It is a lovely powerful piece.  For me it reminds me that we are all interconnected.  What injustice we inflict on others we inflict on ourselves.  What pain we cause others will also pain ourselves.  A bit new agish perhaps for some but bare with me while I ruminate.  (A much better word then rant would you agree?)

In the dim dark ages we lived in caves. We belonged to clans because we needed help to protect and feed our young.  As we became more civilised as did our lives.  We lived in villages we may have toiled the earth for our master but we were fed and protected.  We continued in our growth and villages became towns and these towns became cities.  And still in the thousands upon thousands of years of our existence it is still true; 'No man is an island'.

Now I would like to bring this back to the level of friendships.  We need each other.  We hold each other in our sad times, we applaud and congratulate in our happy times.  Why then do we hurt each other.  I am not talking about medieval dark ages where tyranny ran rife or the cold war or terrorism or aggressively asserting opinions over others.

I am talking about us.  Each individual who is stands alone a frail and lonely person were it not for our friends. (I include family in this term of friends).

It is very hard to sometimes understand why something has happened when you have no idea why.  It hurts you and you will dwell on it.  If you are like me and you have mental health issues you won't just dwell on it - you will obsess over it.  To the point, where you will forget about the friends who have stood by you.  And that is doing such a disservice to your true and loyal friends.

So, over the next few days my true and loyal friends I am going to think about you.  I am going to remember why we are friends, how we met, how we got up to mischief, the fun we have had and also the times we have been there for each other.   You all know who you are.  Some of you I see regularly, some hardly ever, but you are all as dear to me as you ever were.

To my friends - The bell tolls for thee.  I love you all so much.

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