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For Whom the Bells Toll



 
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For Whom the Bells Toll #1 (permalink) Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:36 am   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

For Whom the Bells Toll

What does this mean exactly?

Those for whom the bells toll
For those for whom the bells toll
For whom do the bells toll?

I think it is the last one, but then why isn't it in the interrogative? Is it archaic?
navi t
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For Whom the Bells Toll #2 (permalink) Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:58 am   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

Hi navi t

No, I wouldn't understand "For Whom the Bells Toll" to be interrogative. I would consider your first alternative the best.

To make it interrogative, you could say:
"For whom do the bells toll?"

One way I can think of to make it interrogative without adding the word "do" after "whom" could be:
"Do you know for whom the bells toll?"

Amy
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Bell tolls #3 (permalink) Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:45 am   Bell tolls
 

Hi navi t,

For whom the bell tolls means the person who has died for whom the bell is ringing (tolling).

This line comes from a sermon written by the 17th century poet and writer, John Donne. I have put the line in context below. It means in the very simplest way that we all depend on one another and are all affected by the actions of others. There are words in it that are not used today thy (your) thee (you) thine (yours).

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.

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For Whom the Bells Toll #4 (permalink) Thu Jun 01, 2006 14:36 pm   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

With the 'know' before 'for whom the bell tolls' the meaning becomes clear.

I didn't know it was from a poem, and obviously I didn't know the poem. I think the poem is truly great! What it says is true too!
navi t
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For Whom the Bells Toll #5 (permalink) Thu Jun 01, 2006 14:46 pm   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

Hi, navi t,
There is also a novel by Ernest Hemingway 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' that, as far as I can remember, has the above John Donne’s words 'therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee’ as the epigraph.
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For Whom the Bells Toll #6 (permalink) Fri Jun 02, 2006 10:44 am   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

My dear Amy/ Alan

Can you kindly re-write these lines in simple English?

"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."

A lot of thanks
Tom
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For Whom the Bells Toll #7 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 21:06 pm   For Whom the Bells Toll
 

Tom wrote:
My dear Amy/ Alan

Can you kindly re-write these lines in simple English?

"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."

A lot of thanks
Tom

Here's a try at simplifying the sentence:

If a lump of earth is carried away by the sea, Europe will feel the loss as if it was a piece of land. The loss would be as great as if it was your friend's house or your own being taken away.

In other words, and as Alan said, we are all intertwined and dependent on each other... for good or worse Smile !

PS: Maybe saying Europe in those days amounted to saying the universe!
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