John Donne, Unity, Disunity and Pandemics

Most English Literature students will be acquainted with the poetry of the man in the picture above. John Donne (1572 - 1631) is known as one of the "Metaphysical Poets", and features on most English Lit. syllabuses. This is a well-deserved accolade, as he was an excellent writer who deserves to be both studied for academic reasons and read for pleasure. Most students, though, who admire his sensual and passionate verses about Love, are not aware that he became a devout Anglican clergyman, becoming Dean of St Paul's in 1621. As a clergyman, he wrote and published a number of sermons. Very few people read his sermons nowadays, but many of us know of this passage from his Meditation 17:

This is often quoted as an appeal for common human unity in the face of Life's trials. It foreshadows the hippy mantra "We're all one", we all belong to each other and share a final fate: death. It implies that we should care for each other as we are all human together. I sometimes wonder what Donne, a practising Christian, would have made of the fact that his religious meditation would go on to inspire Humanists, secular minded socialists and the title of a book by a hellraising American left wing writer and KGB agent - Ernest Hemingway - "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
Donne was familiar with the presence of disease; the average life span in 17th century England was just under 40. Quite what he would make of the Coronavirus is an interesting thought. The latest figures show that 29, 315 people have died of this horrible disease in the UK; 259, 381 worldwide. As an educated man, he would have read of the toll from the Black Death in the 14th century - about 50 million. He might have thought that we got off comparatively lightly. He did not see the death toll of 65, 986 in London during the Great Plague of 1665-66. Nor did he witness the depredations of the so-called "Spanish Flu" , 1918-19, taking the lives of 228, 000 British people. 50 million are said to have died worldwide in that time, although some historians say the true figure is double that.
As far as unity counts, as in Donne's meditation, how united are we? Well, everyone agrees that this disease must be stopped, although politicians world-wide are in disagreement about how to bring this about. Here in  the UK, we have seen an arousal of community spirit and, by and large, observance of lockdown restrictions on our everyday lives. There has been an outpouring of support for key workers, especially NHS staff. If John Donne lived down our street, I am sure he would have joined in the 8.00pm outdoor applause on Thursday evenings. Anti-immigrant feeling is said to be at its lowest ever, following the magnificent contribution of both Commonwealth and EU migrants to the NHS during the present crisis.
Unfortunately, there has been activity from those who do not share Donne's sentiments, both here and abroad. Our old friend, Nigel Farage, has followed the lead of his hero, Donald Trump, by blaming China for COVID-19. As "The National" says:
" The Brexit Party leader, in a column for Newsweek, says Donald Trump was correct to dub Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” as he claims China is responsible for the outbreak". 
Nigel has got himself into trouble recently for making repeated trips to the South coast while the rest of us observe lockdown. He has complained bitterly about a visit from the police, claiming that his immigrant-baiting trips are in the public interest. It's a shame that he didn't make visits to Chinese communities to see the harmful effects to which his remarks have contributed: racist attacks upon Chinese people (and anyone of Far Eastern appearance). The Guardian lists a number of such attacks - and they are increasing. Sky News has reported:

"At least 267 offences were recorded in the first three months of 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis - including assaults, robberies, harassment and criminal damage.
Victims described being punched, spat at and coughed on in the street as well as being verbally abused about coronavirus after the first case was reported in China".

The same is happening in the USA, but this is only part of the conspiracy paranoia happening worldwide. Wikipedia, which is not always wrong, lists a multiplicity of such absurdities. The World Health Organisation (WHO), describes this phenomenon as an epidemic, which is ironic, if you like. Iran blames Israel; Indian Muslims have been blamed; David Icke blames 5G masts; it's germ warfare by China, etc, etc. The UN Secretary general, Antonio Guterres has spoken of an international "tsunami of hate and xenophobia". Quoted in The Independent,: 
" He called on political leaders to show solidarity with all people to help combat hate speech, and said the media – especially social media – should “remove racist, misogynist and other harmful content”.
In spite of this, some optimistic pundits look forward to the end of this plague as the possible dawn of a new era of co-operation and unity. Well, I hope so, despite the contraindications given above. I'd like to think that we will see the end of racism in the UK - or at least the beginning of the end. It would be nice to think that we would value our NHS workers more, whatever their origins, and pay them decent wages in the future. I'd be delighted if, as a gesture of compassion, the UK and every other country were to hold a day of remembrance for all those who have died from COVID-19. Following Donne's logic, we would be mourning for parts of ourselves. As part of the ceremony, one solitary bell should ring in memory of every life lost. That bell will toll for all of us.
I think John Donne would have liked that.