by John Donne (1572 - 1631)
Translation
Nunc, lento, sonitu dicunt, morieris
Language: English  after the English
Nunc, lento, sonitu dicunt, morieris. The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth. Morieris. Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell, which upon any occasion rings? Morieris. But who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of the world? Nunc, lento, sonitu dicunt, morieris. No man is an island, entire of itself; 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 friends or of thine own were. Morieris. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. Morieris. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Nunc, lento, sonitu dicunt, morieris.
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
- a text in English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "Meditation XVII", written 1623, appears in Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, and severall steps in my Sicknes, first published 1624
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Ivy) Priaulx Rainier (1903 - 1986), "Nunc, lento, sonitu dicunt, morieris", 1954 [ tenor, unaccompanied ], from Cycle for Declamation, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-17
Line count: 22
Word count: 175