What did John Donne mean when he said "Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee"?

Question

Why was there a bell tolling in the first place? And why would it have to toll "for" someone? When I hear a bell tolling, I presume it's to inform people of the time.

Answer 1

He talks about all kinds of bells in the poem, but `the' bell is a funeral bell.  The ridiculous conceit is that when somebody dies, everybody dies a little bit, because we are all connected (And when she buries a man, that action concerns me... 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.)  Now does it make sense?

Answer 2

I agree with Hypo...it is a butterfly effect applied on a relationship between human kind.