ISLAND

They told me years ago
no man is an island
I say that is passe
No country is an island
even if it's island country
like the old British isles
or the new nifty NAFTA
of North America
squeezed between them two creeks
Atlantic 'n Pacific

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A good thought. The world is a smaller place than it used to be. Please explain "passe". Why is it "passe"? Is it still not true? Was this Hemmingway who said it? If my meaning of the word "passe" here is correct, then the poem needs some kind of clarification. Cause it would be like saying that some great quote of Shakespeare or the Bible is passe because new modern things exist.
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Passe means it's out of fashion (also a cliche, by now) to keep repeating it about a single individual, when the world has shrunk so much, that it is more appropriate on a gigantic global level, rather than the old personal 'island' level. It's still true "no man is an island", but to me, it's out of fashion (or passe, if you like). Claude
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There you have it. You said it yourself. It takes the "individual" out of it. I believe the "no man is an island" quote was meant to mean that we're all, as humans, interconnected and dependent on one another. Sort of "for whom the bell tolls-it tolls for thee" concept. I like thie idea that this applies to nations, as well. But I just don't get it, I'm afraid, to say that a thing is passe because it is old. Awfully good ideas though old fellow. Keep writing. oops
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closed aug 14