What is the origin of the phrase 'for whom the bell tolls' Not who wrote the book...What does 'for whom the bell tolls' mean?

Answer 1

Answer The phrase became popular after the famous John Donne poem used the lines "ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee". The church bell is tolled (rung with soft repeated strokes) at a funeral Answer "For Whom the Bell Tolls", The title of a book by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1940

The following is found in a text by John Donne (1623):

Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me: Thou must die." PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. so... what exactly is "ask not for whom the bell tolls" supposed to mean? i have a feeling its death/death-roll related- like at a hanging or something- but whats it mean

Answer 2

The phrase "for whom the bell tolls" refers to the person that is honored by the ringing of a church bell following the person's death. These famous words by John Donne were originally included in his Meditation 17, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624). The words of the original passage are as follows:

Meditation 17, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

"... 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 bells tolls; it tolls for thee...."

Answer 3

Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

Answer 4

I think it is just talking about war in general, Its basically saying who is going to die next.