Devotions upon Emergent Occasions is a prose work by John Donne published in 1624. Written while he was recovering from a serious illness, it follows the stages of his sickness in twenty-three parts, each with a meditation, an expostulation and a prayer. Its seventeenth meditation contains some of the most famous sentences in English prose.
A diary of illness
In late 1623 Donne, then Dean of St Paul's, fell gravely ill with a fever. He wrote the Devotions during his recovery, in a few weeks.
Each section marks a moment in the illness: the first symptoms, the doctor's visit, the king's physician, the crisis and the slow return to health.
Three parts
Every section has three parts: a meditation on the human condition, an expostulation in which Donne argues with God, and a prayer.
This structure turns a personal experience into a reflection on the fragility and the connectedness of all human beings.
Meditation XVII
In the seventeenth meditation, Donne hears a church bell tolling for a funeral and reflects that every death concerns all of us.
Its image of each person as part of a continent, and not an island, has been quoted countless times.
Anecdotes
Hemingway's title
Ernest Hemingway took the title of his 1940 novel about the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls, from the seventeenth meditation.
A dedication to a prince
Donne dedicated the Devotions to Prince Charles, the future Charles I. The book was printed quickly and went through several editions.
Frequently asked questions
When were the Devotions published?
In 1624.
Why did Donne write them?
During his recovery from a serious illness.
Which novel took its title from them?
Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.