环球英语 — 277：John Donne

　　Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight¹. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
No man is an island.
Voice 1
This is one of the most famous sayings in the English language. It means that everything a person does affects other people. The saying comes from the writings of John Donne. He lived four hundred years ago. His poems and his method of writing greatly influenced many other writers and poets.
Voice 2
In today’s Spotlight we tell John Donne’s story. We talk about his life and work. But first we talk about “metaphysical” poetry. In a previous Spotlight programme, ‘Hero Poets’, we told of the Nicaraguan metaphysical poet Alfonso Cortes. But what is “metaphysical poetry”?
Voice 1
In metaphysical poetry, the poet mixes reason with emotion. Such poems often use powerful or sexual² images. And they compare things are in no way connected. So, people are able to see something in a new way. For example the metaphysical poet George Herbert compared the love of God to a bottle.
Voice 3
I have not lost a single tear;
But when my eyes
cried to heaven, they found a bottle there...
Ready to take the tears in.*
Voice 2
Most English metaphysical poets lived in the sixteen hundreds [1600’s]. The greatest of them was John Donne. He was born in London during a period of violent religious conflict. The violence directly affected³ his family. And the young Donne questioned many things - life, God and the church.
Voice 1
As a young man, he lived to satisfy himself. He lived a life of wine, women and song. Experts believe he wrote most of his love poems at this time. His love poems are often humourous. In the poem ‘The Triple⁴ Fool’ he wrote:
Voice 3
I am two fools, I know, one for loving, and one for saying so…*
Voice 2
John Donne decided⁵ to study law. He was very good at speaking and dealing⁶ with people. But he did not finish his studies. Instead he got a job working as an assistant to Sir Thomas Egerton. Sir Thomas was an important royal official. He greatly valued Donne’s work and opinions. Life was going well for Donne. In 1601, he was elected as a Member of Parliament.
Voice 1
But during this same year, everything changed. Donne fell in love with a member of Sir Egerton’s family. Her name was Anne More. She was only seventeen. Donne was thirty. And he was in a lower social class than Anne. He knew that her family would not approve of him. So, Donne and Anne secretly married.
Voice 2
Anne’s father was so angry that he had Donne thrown in prison. Donne was not there long. But after he got out, he had a hard time finding work. And Anne’s father cut them off financially. In those times in England a woman’s family gave money to the man marrying their daughter - a dowry. But Anne’s father refused to pay the dowry.
Voice 1
Anne’s cousin and Donne’s friends helped them. But they lived in poverty for the next ten years. During this time, they had many children. In total they had twelve, five of whom died young. Donne became depressed⁷. He blamed himself for making his wife’s life difficult.
Voice 2
During that time, Donne started studying religion. He developed a deep love for God. He often expressed his feelings about God in his poems. His used strong images of physical love and violence to describe them. His poem Holy Sonnet⁸ Fourteen asks God to break him so that he may be a new person:
Voice 3
...Overthrow⁹ me, and bend your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.*
Voice 1
Anne’s father finally made peace with Donne. And he paid the dowry. But the family still struggled financially. Donne earned some money by writing poems for wealthy supporters - poems of praise and funeral poems. He also earned money from other writing. He wrote about the law, religion and politics. Through his political writing, he earned the blessing¹⁰ of King James.
Voice 2
King James decided Donne should become a priest¹¹ in the Church of England. He said he would only help Donne find work within the church. At first Donne resisted. He believed his past was not holy enough. But his friends persuaded him to try.
Voice 1
Becoming a priest was a good idea for Donne. In church he spoke¹² in a similar way to his writing - he used symbols, powerful imagery, and his great knowledge of many subjects. He became the greatest Christian¹³ minister of his time. Copies of his speeches in church survive to this day.
Voice 2
But with this success, came great sadness. His beloved wife died. She did not live to see him become the chief priest at one of the most famous churches in London - St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Voice 1
Just two years after he started working at St. Paul’s, Donne became very sick. In those days when someone died, the church bells would sound or toll¹⁴. They would ring three times for a man, two times for a woman. Then a pause, and a ring for every year of the person’s life. Donne was lying in bed, sick. He heard the bells tolling¹⁵. At first he believed they were for him. Then he discovered they were for another man. And he wrote the famous lines:
Voice 3
No man is an island,
Complete in itself.
Each is a piece of the continent
A part of the main.
Each man’s death reduces me,
For I am involved in mankind.
So, never ask to know
For whom the bell tolls¹⁶,
It tolls for you.*
Voice 1
Donne is saying that when one person dies, a little bit of everyone dies too. He also makes the point that the bells ring for every person at some time. Everyone meets death.
Voice 2
John Donne died in London in 1631. In his last years, Donne wrote much more about death. His sickness made him think about it often. During this sickness his Christian faith had comforted him. Like all Christians¹⁷, Donne believed that faith in Jesus Christ brings life after death - life with God. Donne wrote these famous lines, denying the power of death:
Voice 3
Death be not proud, although some have called you
powerful and frightful¹⁸, for you are not so.
For, those whom you think you overthrow
die not, poor death; neither yet can you kill me.*
Voice 1
The writer and producer of today’s programme was Rachel Hobson.
* All poems and writings were adapted for this programme.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 triple   

n.三倍之数，三个一组；adj.三倍的

参考例句：

• Twelve is the triple of four.十二是四的三倍数。
• He received triple wages for all his extra work.由于额外的工作他领取了三倍的工资。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

8 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

9 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

10 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

11 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

15 tolling   

[财]来料加工

参考例句：

• A remote bell is tolling. 远处的钟声响了。
• Indeed, the bells were tolling, the people were trooping into the handsome church. 真的，钟声响了，人们成群结队走进富丽堂皇的教堂。

16 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

17 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

18 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。