It's hard to believe but there was a time when the full implication of the health risks of smoking were not known (or were ignored). Adverts would often portray an image of manliness & masculinity and appeal to the opposite sex. None of that changes the merits of the design and appeal of these poster ads. I love poster art and here it is in it's best manifestation.
The phrase No man is an island is often assumed to be Shakespearean or from the Bible but it’s neither. John Donne (pronounced ‘Done’) was among the greatest of English posts and wrote some of the most beautiful love poetry of all time. However, this isn’t originally a poem at all; it’s from a sermon given by Donne when he was the Dean of St Pauls, London.
No Man is an Island by John Donne, written in 1623
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.
It was originally published in Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions. Its subject is the interconnectedness of all mankind and, more subtly, examines the relationship between man and God and enquires what it means to be alive. Donne is saying that people are social creatures and that no one can be truly self-sufficient; people need each other and are better together than they are apart. He argues that “any man’s death diminishes me” and tells the reader not to ask "for whom the bell tolls." That is, they don’t need to ask who death is coming for, because it’s coming for everyone. Another implicit point here, then, is that people should cherish being alive, and, while alive, embrace being part of the wider human family. Donne uses an extended metaphor, comparing the joining together of all people to a geographic land mass; each separate part belongs to a whole.
I'm listening to another poet; Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue, a song from a lifetime ago! You can listen to it here.
