I was required to read & analyze some of his works in high school (thank you, RHS). For the most part his work is pretty abstract and esoteric, often too much so for my tastes, and yet...
His poem "me up at does" has haunted me since I first read it, and involuntarily memorized it, over 40 years ago. Others of his works are also very profound in my estimation.
What are your thoughts about and experiences with his work?
(you can find a compilation of his work here:
http://www.poemhunter.com/ee-cummings/ )
Thanks for the comment, Conan...
cummings was not dislexic. He was a ground-breaking poet in the 60's who challenged grammatical dogmas. He experimented with meter, grammer, line, etc. in the belief that language should be at our service, to convey information and emotion, rather than us being slaves to our language. You'll notice he signed his name "e e cummings" - no caps, no periods. His theory was that case & punctuation should only be used to convey meaning, or emotion, so why capitalize or punctuate his name? (in deference to him, I use his name as he did when I refer to him)
cummings could use this technique brilliantly but sometimes, like all experiments can fail, it became too esoteric and distracted from his work. There were many other poets of the time who played with language too, mostly creating trash and nonsense IMHO.
Some of cummings works are brilliant though, in so many ways. Check 'em out!
im looking for the the actually cd art work on the front of the disk ith the artichoke with butter melting over it i want it for a tattoo. i would like to substitute the artichoke with a shamrock and the words i carry you heart under it from the ee Cummings poem. when i was younger my mom used to butter my nose on my birthday just a strange tradition i hated but..... anyways help would be appreciated
Our surname is Cummings, and we're trying to find girl names. We like the first name Pippa. But we're unsure of how we feel about it being said together: Pippa Cummings ..??
Any opinions? Suggestions?
The full name would be Philippa (pronounced Fill-ee-pah) in case anyone didn't know.
I grew up with the surname Cummings and in high school there were sexual remarks constantly, but it wasn't something that was unbearable. The last name sticks, I just need to see what I'd like to pick for her first name.
To Jenn H. : I really disliked the name Pippa, too when I first heard it. But it's a name that's grown on me progressively with time.
It's also an English name and Philippa is a very sophisticated and historical name. That's why I chose it.
I understand that it means something along the lines of to achieve love you must learn to let things go. You have to let things go their separate ways to where they were meant to go.
I just don't really understand the third stanza...
the first one is like half confusing too.
Thanks!
http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f100/MissMandie88/?action=view¤t=Mytattoo.jpg
Let me know what you think... It is part of my favorite poem by ee cummings.
i need to write an enthymeme over ee cummings poem "dominic has a doll" but i need the figurative meaning more than anything. here's the poem:
"dominic has
a doll wired
to the radiator of his
ZOOM DOOM
icecoalwood truck a
wistful little
clown
whom somebody buried
upsidedown in an ashbarrel so
of course dominic
took him
home
& mrs dominic washed his sweet
dirty
face & mended
his bright toen trousers (quite
as if he were really her &
she
but)&so
that
's how dominic has a doll
& every now and then my
wonderful
friend dominie depaola
gives me a most tremendous hug
knowing
i feel
that
we & worlds
are
less alive
than dolls &
dream."
I know the literal meaning of the poem: the doll is the speaker, dominic brings him home... i think the meaning has something to do with the last stanzas that we are less alive than dolls/dreams but i can't figure it out! please help!
it is so long since my heart has been with yours
it is so long since my heart has been with yours
shut by our mingling arms through
a darkness where new lights begin and
increase,
since your mind has walked into
my kiss as a stranger
into the streets and colours of a town--
that i have perhaps forgotten
how,always(from
these hurrying crudities
of blood and flesh)Love
coins His most gradual gesture,
and whittles life to eternity
--after which our separating selves become museums
filled with skilfully stuffed memories
last year in my english class, my teacher showed us a poem by ee cummings that was about two people who were in happy love, but no one else in their village was happy, or understood what love was. instead of names, the two people were called pronouns or letters or something, not real names.
can anyone tell me what this poem was, please?
In the movie In Her Shoes with Cameron Diaz and Toni Collete at the end of the movie in the wedding scene Cameron Diaz reads a poem by E.E. Cummings. What poem is that? What is the name?
I'm reading the ee cummings poem "i sing of olaf glad and big". I need to annotate for school, but I don't under stand what the term "silver bird" is? The poem is about the military, so i figure it is some kind of military term.
Here's the stanza:
"straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)"
and the entire poem can be found here: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15408
if anyone can help, that would be great! thanks!
I love James Mercer, Robert Plant, Paul Simon, Ben Gibbard, Colin Meloy, Jeff Mangum
ee cummings, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, and William Blake are some of my favorite poets.
Just looking to broaden my horizon. :]
The essense of bad poetry seems to be that it is a Goof-on-Ya. It is all smoke and mirrors designed to fool you into thinking that it means something, when actually it means about as much as a Rorschact Test -- an ink blot in which you are supposed to see something.
Often the bad poem is composed almost entirely of words like vapor, mist, haze, cloudy, shadow, gauzy, and many abstract metaphysical words like love, yearning, music, hope, spirit, goodness, etc.
These words are strung together like a hall of smoke and mirrors. The reader is invitted to walk down that hall and find some meaning there. It's a game of Goof-on-Ya. The poet is putting us on, having a goof on us, trespassing on our credulity and goodwill.
The good poem, has ping. You know that the poet is describing something very real, not just to him/her, but to you as well. Take a line by Dylan "threw the bums a dime in your prime". It's got action. It got a picture of an event. It's got concrete terms -- dime -- bums. It's got a possible allusion to John D. Rockefeller Sr. who was famous in the 20's for handing out dimes to the indigents he met on the street. It also relates to possible street musicians in the 1960's who would leave their guitar cases open on the street as they played, and passersby who liked the music could throw in a dime, or a dollar. Anyhow, Dylan is not just talking about his hazy, gauzy, feelings of hope and love and abstract clouds in vaporland. He is making a presentation. He is carrying the burden and performing the mission of the poet by manifesting something real. Frost is great at this, and T.S. Eliot, and Shakespeare. You know the poem is not a goof-on-ya counterfeit designed to fool you into thinking there is meaning where there's really just a string of cloudy abstract words.
Emily Dickenson wrote poems with true ping. They ring out clear and honest. EE Cummings and Lawrence Ferlinghetti did too. They are not trying to get over on you with counterfeit -- they are giving you the real coin, tested in the crucible, fashion in the mint of experience of real things and real events.
Or, do you think, a rose is a rose is a rose, a poem is a poem is a poem. Who is to say that one is good and the other bad? Why isn't the hapless musing of little Billy goofboy just as valuable as a work of art as any sonnet by Shakespeare. We need some equality and some democracy in the arts. So, break dancing and ballet -- same diff. Goof on Ya poems and songs by Dylan, same diff. Jackson Pollock and Rembrandt same diff. Beethoven's 9th and a tractor pull soundtrack, same diff. Good versus Bad is just a distinction made by elitists and snobs, who don't want to really get down with the homeboys in the hood. Poems are all equal.
my fiances childhood friend is doing our ceremony- his first.. i dont think he has any idea what to do.. he is just starting to do the paperwork and our wedding is in 3 months.. any ideas of where to find how ceremonys are supposed to be set up- and wording.. sorry Ive only been to one wedding before. Ours is non traditional- i want to put ee cummings "i carry your heart with me" poem in there.. and we are writing our own vows..
thanks in advanced!
r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r by E. E. Cummings
r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r
who
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PPEGORHRASS
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BIRDS BECAUSE AGAINS
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GLIB SCARCELYEST AMONGS FLOWERING
Here's the gist of it: My partner and I broke up about three weeks ago. We had a huge argument that turned very dramatic/loud.
She left once, but then returned immediately. Then, after waiting a few seconds she left again--this time for good.
After five or six hours had passed, she came back home with someone else in tow (I was asleep, and stayed in the bedroom). She said she needed to grab a few things.
But she ended up not grabbing very much. I just finished packing 9 boxes of her stuff, including her laptop.
Anyhow, the day after the break up, she called sobbing about missing me. We talked, and decided that we still wanted to be together. She mentioned going to therapy for the first time, and discovering that she was depressed. She said that she was excited to be a better person, and a better partner to me.
She came by later that night, and stayed for just about five minutes. We kissed a bit, but I think that both of us were afraid to get too involved in it.
I decided to leave a card on her windshield the next day. Basically, it just a simple I Love You card with a copy of ee cummings I carry your heart in my heart. I thought she would find it sweet.
When I talked to her the next day though, she was ice cold. I asked about the card, and she said very flatly "I got it." Then she talked very clinically about what "I" was going to do. I asked for clarification, and she corrected to "we", but it was clear she didn't mean it.
She was so distant on the phone that I told her that I didn't know what was going on. She said she didn't either. Then she said she was "sorting through her feelings." I asked what that meant. She repeated the same phrase.
The conversation really hurt, especially on the heels of the lovey dovey one that we had just had the day before. I told her that it was painful to speak with her, and we hung up. She called later to say "I miss you" in the most shallow way one can utter that phrase. I told her that it hurt to talk...that we should back off for awhile.
She called again. I stupidly answered. This time she said, "Oh I shouldn't call and say I miss you, it hurts you." As if she no longer experienced any hurt (one day after a sobbing "I miss you" message).
Well, after that, I refused to answer her calls. At that point, to me, it was mean to keep calling given we agreed that the calls were painful to me.
Then we found out that we had to move from our apartment. Long story. I texted her, and told her. No response. Texted. No response. Finally, I asked if she were ignoring me. She said, "I'm sorting through my feelings."
Since then, I have asked her to come and get her belongings, even providing a time when I wouldn't be here so there's no awkward confrontation. She works right across the street. I have seen her car parked around our apartment day after day.
She ignores all of my texts about getting her belongings. She hasn't even returned my belongings, which include my mother's things (my mom passed away about a year ago so her things mean quite a lot to me).
Why the quick change from "I still want to marry you" to "what are you going to do?" Oh, and while asking what I was going to do, she went on about how much stronger each of us was going to be because of this (although it was unclear what *this* meant). I figured it was code for break up, but then she called (as I noted above) a bunch more times over the following days.
I haven't heard from her in two weeks. And I'm still wondering...what happened.
ee cummings love is a place.
Love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places
yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skillfully curled)
all worlds
I don't get it. how would you paraphrase it? or analyze it?
I need suggestions on poets to read, I've already read ee cummings, emily dickenson, edgar allen poe, allen ginsberg, and charles bukowski. Any others you suggest?
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
what is the exact meaning and theme of this poem?
he was a very good poet, I think. The most noticeable thing about him was that he never used capital letters. I was wondering if anyone knew if his name was a pen name and supposed to be sexually suggestive, especially since I always thought of him as a serious poet.
I also ask because I was reminded of a very sexually explicit poem he wrote, which I really love, so when I thought about it, I had to wonder. Thanks.
what is the theme ? why do you think so ?
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
im having it done on my left arm :)
i need a line from an eecummings poem that would look good on my left arm :)
sorry for not being entirely clear. im asking for a LINE from any eecummings poem :)
Please give me as much information on this as humanly possible. Things such as diction, detail, syntax, and rhetorical devices used would be so greatly appreciated! And please save your personal opinions of it, I don't really care, I just need the facts.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
I need as much information on it as humanly possible. Anything ranging from diction, detail, syntax, rhetorical devices would be so greatly appreciated! And please, save what your personal opinion of the poem means, just give me the facts.
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
-the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
its called the feelings come first by ee cummings and it talks about sex. read it and tell me that you feel the same. its metaphoric but think about it. its about lust instead of love
What's a nice poem by ee cummings that i could read out loud? it's for class and my teacher said that the poem we will be reading should be at least 16 lines. Can you suggest something other than "since feeling is first", "somewhere i have never travelled" and "if". THANK YOU!!!
I didn't use answers.yahoo.com if i didn't try to look for a poem. ee cummings has excellent but strange poems and i've been spending ALL AFTERNOON to look for a decent poem that i could read out loud because my teacher is strict and he wouldn't let me just read any strange short poem. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE ASK HELP HERE DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE LAZY AND THEY DIDN'T TRY LOOKING FOR THESE STUFF THEMSELVES. i wasn't asking you guys to do my homework. i don't think there's anything wrong with asking help here.
Need a good, profound, or hilarious poem from one of these authors?
Maya Angelou
robert burns
robert browning
ee. cummings
emily dickinson
robert frost (no fire and ice!!)
langston hughes
ted hughes
rudyard kipling
henry w. longfellow
sidney lanier
sylvia plath
edgar allen poe
shel silverstein
william shakespeare
alfred, lord tennyson
walt whitman
alice walker
william butler yeats
Dr. Suess
(I have to memorize it so it can't be too long
7 minutes ago - 4 days left to answer.
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."
ee cummings
how do you think it pertains to past events in history, and the present?
no, its not for homework...
its for a cultural project im working on for work, and i just wanted opinions
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."
ee cummings
what points and concepts do you think are significant from this quote?
how do you think it pertains to past events in history, and the present?
thanks so much for answering!
:)
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."
ee cummings
what points and concepts do you think are significant from this quote?
how do you think it pertains to past events in history, and the present?
thanks so much for answering!
i am doing love poetry : what is a poem like as my english poetry cousework and i need a love poem or lyrics to compae and contrast it to .. what do you think ?
e.e cummings is my favorite poet, and his poem i carry your heart with me is by far my favorite and most meaningful in my life.
I want to get a part of the poem tattooed on my, not the whole thing, but cannot decide which part, or the placement of the tattoo.
I have three tattoos already : foot, ankle, and lower back, so excluding those places where should i get it, and what part of the poem. Here is the poem:
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
sorry for confusion. I DONT want the whole poem just a part of it, but can't decide which part since I love it all!
i need to find certain poems by certain authors who have too many poems to look through, if anyone can help me i would appreciate it.
I need to find:
limerick
ballad
sonnet
blank verse
haiku
using only the authors:
EE cummings
Alice Walker
Edna St. Vincet Millay
Gwendolyn Brooks
Emily Dickinson
Nikki Giovanni
Dylan Thomas
THE Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls
are unbeautiful and have comfortable minds
(also, with the church's protestant blessings
daughters,unscented shapeless spirited)
they believe in Christ and Longfellow, both dead,
are invariably interested in so many things--
at the present writing one still finds
delighted fingers knitting for the is it Poles?
perhaps. While permanent faces coyly bandy
scandal of Mrs. N and Professor D
.... the Cambridge ladies do not care, above
Cambridge if sometimes in its box of
sky lavender and cornerless, the
moon rattles like a fragment of angry candy
whats the meaning of this poem??? thanks!
