101 Poems, Number 55

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

55: “Meditation XVII” (“No Man Is an Island”), 1624, by John Donne (1572–1631)

A very famous line from Donne—

And not, of course, the only one.

He wrote a lot ere he was … done.

We are, he wrote, together here—

Not isolated—very near.

What separates us? Too much fear?

We are connected, one and all—

We've been so since that famous Fall—

We need to heed each human’s call.

We cannot live as if alone—

We cannot ignore another’s moan—

We cannot have a heart of stone.

Link to poem.  https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-man-is-an-island/