Sherry Chandler » e. e. cummings
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 of 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)
— e. e. cummings (text from American Religous Poems)
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6 Comments
1. Terry replies at 1st January 2007, 8:40 pm :
i who have died am alive again today
That one line sums up so much of cummings’ work, doesn’t it? It makes me happy to know you appreciate him as much as I do.
2. sherry replies at 2nd January 2007, 10:26 am :
Terry, cummings is one of the poets I have in my head, though I must say I usually prefer his more satiric side, as in
Buffalo Bill’s
defunct
But I love the affirmation of this poem, which is why I thought it might be a nice one to start a year that is getting off to a sad start and promises to be a troubled one.
Some interesting commentaries on Buffalo Bill’s here.
3. Terry replies at 2nd January 2007, 11:28 am :
Oh, I agree on the satiric stuff, but this line reminded me so much of the things he wrote right after the war, not the religious aspect, but as he was coming to terms with the death of his spirit in the war and him becoming alive again by inches. The becoming, not whole again, but something different and stronger, really speaks to me.
4. sherry replies at 2nd January 2007, 2:25 pm :
Yes, Terry. I see. And I’m very pleased that you’re talking about this poem here. You’re teaching me something, making me look again.
I think my use of the word “prefer” was inaccurate. I don’t “prefer” the satiric voice; it’s the one I know better, probably because I read cummings when I was young. A poem like this probably doesn’t appeal too much to some one young and unscarred.
I will say, though, that in a whole anthology of “religious” poems, this one stood out for me.
5. Deane replies at 2nd January 2007, 3:28 pm :
This poem stands out for me, as well, and I think it is a perfect one to start a year with! I like the playful tone, the aliveness, the religious reaching toward wholeness that I think IS part of it, the openness to possibility –the very rhythm and song of it!
6. sherry replies at 3rd January 2007, 6:44 am :
An affirmation I, for one, am dearly in need of, Deane, Terry. I am very pleased that the poem speaks to others as well.
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