'No Man is an Island'

The mighty Pacific

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
               

When my college English classes read this poem, I always asked them if it was possible to mourn for everyone we heard about who had died.  They didn't think so or we would be constantly overcome by grief.

In John Donne's day (1572-1631) mourning most likely was contained to those known in the community.  Life spans were shorter and disease was rampant.  Simpler maybe, but still painful.

With our ability to hear news from around the world at any moment of the day, there is more to tug at our heartstrings.  In December when first graders were shot and killed in Newtown, Connecticut, the minute I saw it on the news I started to wail.  I could not stop the tears and the dreadful feeling of grieving consumed me for days.  As a teacher I wondered how something so horrific could happen in a school.  Even though I remembered Columbine, this seemed so much worse.

So many people like to express their rights as Americans.  Is there a time where one person's rights end and another's rights begin?  Do children deserve to lose their lives because someone has the right to own a gun? 

If those who are strong gun rights's advocates feel their gun rights are more important than a child's life or any innocent person caught in the cross hairs, they need to acquaint themselves with Donne's words.  If a person believes that their rights supersede the welfare of the whole than the last line of Donne's poem is apt, just as it is fitting for those of us who mourn....Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.