E. E. Cummings "Mt. Chocorua." Oil on canvas. Ca. 1938.
I have decided to start a blog where I can express some of my ideas and thoughts about a range of issues which I find intriguing and worth thinking about. I am lucky enough to be teaching what I love but this blog will allow me to discuss informally certain works that I cannot discuss elsewhere. I see the blog as a way of discussing films, poems, novels or life issues which I am interested in and, hopefully, anyone reading this might find the blog useful in some way, even if only to make one think. For these reasons, I do not intend to write in the formal, institutionalised voice of an academic or as a lecturer.
For this first post I thought of sharing some of my views about the poem, 'i thank you God for most this amazing' by e.e. cummings. Before anyone is shocked by the spelling (especially since I am a lecturer of English), let me point out that this is cummings's way of writing. Indeed, cummings is a poet who flaunts tradition in many ways, including the way he plays around with punctuation, sentence structure and other formal aspects of poetry. Ironically, however, this flaunting of tradition became the very signature of cummings's poetry, that which, therefore, is an expected characteristic of his work.
This is the poem in full:
i thank you God for most this amazing
e.e. cummings
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
I remember one of the best students I have ever taught telling me that her first encounter with the poem made her think that this is nonsense. She could not see the point of the confusing structure of the syntax. I think, however, that this is where the energy of the poem comes from.
cummings expresses the sheer enthusiasm and love of everything alive around him through language that seems to be struggling to match these feelings. It is as if the "beauty of this amazing day" is too intense to be contained in everyday language and poetry has to submit to this superior force. And yet, paradoxically, it is this same language that makes us experience this force which goes beyond language itself.
The poem obviously has a religious dimension as cummings sees "You God" (the only words deserving capital letters in the poem) as being the source of the "leaping", "true" life that surrounds us. However, the poem is not simply religious but intensely spiritual. Every day is worth celebrating as a "birthday", as a "great happening". Seeing the world around us makes us be reborn spiritually, taking us away from thoughts of death and nothingness. What cummings is describing here is not simply an appreciation of nature but an intense participation in its being, the ability to "see" and "hear" the world with our own inner self rather than simply with our senses. How can one doubt the existence of "You God", cummings asks, if one experiences this? It is an experience which shatters us with its intensity and yet also something which can give us the means of escaping nihilism and the darkness within us.
The poem is uplifting, to say the least. I am now rereading it after about 3 years precisely at a moment when I feel somewhat disheartened by events around me. I do not believe that poetry is simply something that makes us feel better. There are so many things that can make us feel better that are not poetry. However, if poetry can make us feel better, then that's another reason for reading it.
I do not think that my words about the poem are enough to describe the force of cummings's work. If they were enough, then the poem would definitely not be worth reading. I do hope, however, that this was an invitation to read the poem, to open your inner eyes and ears to it and let it speak to you. Read it aloud and let it inspire you.
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7 comments:
If I could sum up what I've learnt from reading E.E.Cummings' poetry in one lesson, it would definitely be that we can only rely on ourselves to find fulfillment. I've read a quote of his which says that only when we start believing in ourselves, can we risk and experience what really makes us human. Be it faith, love, happiness, or any other thing that might contribute to our eudaimonia ... it can't happen before we are fully aware of the potential that lies within us.
I'd be delighted to read more posts, sir. Keep them coming :)
Steph
Thanks for your comments Stephanie. What you say about cummings is quite insightful. Even in this poem there is the need for the persona to be open to the world to awake to what he could not see and hear before. So yes, the word 'risk' sounds just right. In this poem, in particular, the risk taken is decisive and life-changing. However, what lies outside is also decisive in contributing to this change. So it is really an openness of one to the other and the world which is crucial here.
It is as though Cummings’ is beyond explanation. His poetry is like a maze which simultaneously traps and delights you. When I first read this poem (which happened to be in your class!), I didn't particularly like it and like the student you mentioned I thought the syntax made it silly and irrelevant.
On reflection, it is the unconventional use of English that makes Cummings' poetry so dynamic and ... Cummings'? He somehow manages to remain accessible, a challenge for any poet, particularly one of his brilliance.
Insightful post!
Laura
Thanks for your comment Laura. Yes, he is an accessible poet. I was tempted to say "despite" his language but I would rather say "through" his language. And I also agree that "dynamic" is a good way of describing such a poem. It conveys the movement of language and of the self in its encounter with the universe.
I found your post on Cummings quite interesting. Although I'm not that familiar with Cummings' work, I can see how Cummings' particular style of writing lends itself to the theme of rebirth and renewal evident in the poem. The 'deviant' syntax used here can also suggest:
(1) a pre-linguistic state of being where reality is not codified in words - as in the early years of childhood.
(2) the experience of the divine as the creative, and the unbound, aspect of nature in general and human nature in particular and,
(3) the process of birth where the child is awakening through the senses to the reality around him/her and, again, in a state of freedom and fullness unrestricted by social norms and dogma.
I hope to be able to follow more post entries as this post brough back memories of lit crit classes at university. In the meantime, I hope to see more posts here very soon. Welcome to blogging!
Hi Gordon, thanks a lot for your comments.
The possibilities you suggest to account for the syntax of the poem are quite insightful. The child-like aspect of the idiom does indeed fit well with the idea of re-"birth" that the poem is about. Somehow, nature seems to be allowing the persona to see the world anew, as you say, without societal preconceptions.
Your point about the "unbound" made me think of the notion of "singularity" and the paradoxical demands it makes on us...how, through language, one can respect the singularity of something beyond and before concepts.
It is for discussions like this that I followed you into the world of blogging.
Thanks for the comments. Of course, I can't take all the credit for that. Yes, blogging can be an interesting experience. Hope to read another post soon.
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