No man is an Island

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.

John Donne

John Donne was an English Poet and had written this amazing poem— No man is Island.

The name of this poem was also used by Ruskin Bond— as a collection of his short stories and essays. In the introduction Ruskin Bond had written—

“” In a sense, every man and woman is an island. We communicate with each other, sometimes we share each other’s lives, but our inner selves remain inviolate, our very own. There are some things, some thoughts, we do not share. But life can be very lonely on our individual islands. We need to reach out, touch each other, feel the warmth of another personality, enjoy another’s company, recognize a kindred spirit—find a friend! And then, you are no longer an island………….. Every other man is a piece of myself, for I am a part of mankind. Life only begins to make sense when we admit, with John Donne, that ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’ “”

Now there can be two views or notions on this thought which may seem contradictory but actually are complementary. Let’s see why….

No man is an Island, all powerful, self-sufficient or all mighty. Humans need other humans to survive with or else the race would just perish. We are social animals and thus we need and even crave for recognition, for credit, and want to be listened to. This can although take extreme forms too– of narcissism, too much of self-love, which in a way can also be harmful. So there is a paradox that arises here, one wants to be in the companionship of other human beings, share ones feelings and thoughts, but is also in the danger of extreme self-love, where one craves for company, hates solitude, but also can unwillingly go into the realm of— all me, where one hears the opinions of others but doesn’t listen to them.

How then is no man an island?

John Donne said these words for all of humanity, for all of mankind. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Not the main, but a part of it. Now one may consider how important a part am I really? That depends on your contribution towards humanity in terms of not only reducing poverty but also taking care of the poor or in general, caring, not only trying to improve or fix the world but also trying to live in it peacefully. He might have meant it, in terms of sharing and caring for others, in reaching out to others, to share their happiness and worries, after all that’s what being human means—being connected, maybe apart but still connected. He even wrote that any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind, thus not only mourning over the death of a loved one, or a known person, but also of an unknown person, a person who is not of your race, color, creed,etc.. for mankind is above all divisions.

There can be serious contradictions, as one is bound to imagine a situation of depression, a dictatorship, a fascist country, where humanity takes a different path, where survival becomes paramount, a survival not of the mankind but of oneself, but I think even in these dire times, humanity is not lost. Death has the power to separate but one is still remembered and the saga continues.

The other equally curious notion could be— every man and woman is an island—we try to connect, to share, to care, but also to learn to be with oneself, to connect with ones soul (inner self), as to be with others one first must learn to be with oneself. Solitude is a powerful weapon, one can be the man of the crowd, the center of attraction, but if you aren’t able to judge yourself in private then you really aren’t free. Freedom has two sides to it. One is the open, where you are able to express yourself without restrictions but the other is one which is separate from the crowd, where one hear oneself think.

‘In the morning, – solitude; … that nature may speak to the imagination, as she does never in company.’ —- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

So in a sense no man is an island, complete in itself, is part of the continent, part of the game on earth, but one is also connected as one should be with oneself, a part where no outsider is allowed to peek in, a part where one speaks and listens not to others but oneself. But solitude too can have its extreme areas, a force so powerful that one gets lost in it and isn’t able to come back to reality. Solitude can build fantasies which may be intriguing and capturing, can even help in innovation but if given too much power and thought, it can engulf you.

“The wilderness is a place of becoming lost as much as found. It can enliven a new sense of what companionship means, if it doesn’t lead us back to society it can become a spiritual dead end.”

The whole purpose of solitude is to give oneself a moment of thought only to come back to reality with a new motive.

SOURCE–

Before you can be with others, first learn to be alone.