--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies…" description: "\"“But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?”\" — John Donne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png" --- # But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear? ![“But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?” quote by John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png) > ““But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?”” [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments the distance between bodies and the longing to be together, questioning why they must endure separation. **In simple terms:** Longing for closeness despite distance. Key Takeaway Embrace connection despite distance. Themes love longing separation desire Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic emotional When to use this quote - romantic relationships - long-distance friendships - family reunions - war zones Key Concepts metaphysics human connection Questions to Reflect On - What can you do to bridge emotional distance? - How does longing shape your relationships? A Different Perspective Physical distance can be insurmountable without effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Loose and forbear!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/loose-and-forbear/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-pleasure-was-not-followed-by-pain-who-would-forbear-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Forbear, thou great good husband, little ant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lovelace/forbear-thou-great-good-husband-little-ant/) [Richard Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lovelace/) > [“Bear and forbear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/bear-and-forbear/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [I'll forbear; And am fallen out with my more headier will To take the indisposed and sickly fit For the sound man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-ll-forbear-and-am-fallen-out-with-my-more-headier-will-to-take-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Forbear to lay the guilt of a few on the many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/forbear-to-lay-the-guilt-of-a-few-on-the-many/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/forbear-to-judge-for-we-are-sinners-all/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I can hardly forbear hurling things at him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-can-hardly-forbear-hurling-things-at-him/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! when you do fall, You dash yourselves in pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/forbear-you-things-that-stand-upon-the-pinnacles-of-state-to-boast/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [When the risk of failure is too high, the right choice is to forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-the-risk-of-failure-is-too-high-the-right-choice-is-to-forbear/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If you have any shame, forbear to pluck the beard of a dead lion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-you-have-any-shame-forbear-to-pluck-the-beard-of-a-dead-lion/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us, If lecherous goats, if serpents envious Cannot be damned;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/if-poisonous-minerals-and-if-that-tree-whose-fruit-threw-death-on/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. 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Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) Browse all 453 Alas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Donne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why-do-we-forbear/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alas" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why-do-we-forbear/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/128/john-donne-933_alas_but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why_1093663.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But, O alas! so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear?” — John Donne", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Donne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But, O alas! so long, so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why-do-we-forbear/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-o-alas-so-long-so-far-our-bodies-why-do-we-forbear/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```