In the original text, each section is typically comprised of a single paragraph which may be quite lengthy. In order to render the text more suitable for online reading, which generally favors smaller paragraphs, we have introduced our own paragraph breaks throughout. Paragraph breaks in the original are indicated by a division of text marked with a dashed line above.
History and Significance
John Donne's Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions is the source of the well-known quotation “No man is an island…” and the source of the title to Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls. Written while he was convalescing from a serious illness, Devotions remains a significant exposition of religious sentiment in England during the same time period of the King James Bible and powerful work in their own right, aside from specific theology.