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The poem is a satirical description of a small-minded American town where the people never exert
themselves, regarding their lives negatively. The poet views it from the vantage point of an anonymous
person named "anyone" who muddles along but in a positive frame of mind yet the townspeople dislike
him, all except for the innocent children - but they too eventually grow up and become narrowminded
adults.
ABOUT THE POET
ee cummings - his real name was Edward Estlin Cummings - was born in Massachusetts in 1894. His
father was a professor of Sociology and Political Science at Harvard University but would later become
a Unitarian minister.
Cummings was himself a Harvard graduate, obtaining a Masters degree in English and Classical Studies
in 1916. His intelligence and novel way of thinking, however, caused him to be ostracised and so he found
solace in his poetry.
Although he is known for his flamboyant style of writing, he also published a couple of novels and four
plays - and was an artist who excelled in both drawing and painting.
Cummings's way of thinking was often transcendental, i.e. he believed it possible to reach an ideal spiritual
state by use of intuition rather than through established religious beliefs. Indeed, he reveals this concept
in "i thank You God for most this amazing".
His poetry was shaped by romantic tradition - for example, he wrote many sonnets - but he is best
known for his idiosyncratic style in which he used little punctuation, often wrote in the lowercase and
jumbled up the order of words.
It has been said that his poetry often makes little sense until it is read aloud. On the other hand, several
of his poems reveal his artistic flair in that they are pictures painted in words, e.g. "r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r".
He was also known for his satire when addressing social issues, e.g. "anyone lived in a pretty how town".
Nevertheless, he had a strong bias towards the exuberance of love, sex and spiritual rebirth.
Cummings died of a stroke on 3 September 1962. He was then 68 years of age. He had won many
awards for his work.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain"
- What is the meaning of the words in parenthesis: "(both little and small)"? Why should the people be
both "little" and "small"? Isn't this a tautology, an unnecessary repetition? (4)
[Need help?]
Once again the poet is using parenthesis to add a little more information about the people, information
which might not be absolutely essential. (Remember that parenthesis is to add extra non-essential
information.)
In this case the adults of the town are both "little" and "small", something referring to vitally different
aspects of them. Perhaps they are physically little people. (My wife, who is a short person, discovered
when we visited Aberdeen in Scotland that the majority of women there were shorter than she and for
once in her life she felt tall.)
But they are not only little in stature, they are also "small". Small minded? Lacking insight? Mean and
miserable people? Shallow? Uneducated?
In other words, "little" appears to refer to physical appearance whereas "small" refers to their attitude of
mind.
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- The men and women - the adults of the town - have no interest or concern in "anyone"? Why
not? (4)
[Need help?]
The most obvious reason for the adults not caring is that they have their minds on other things, and mainly
on themselves. They are simply not interested in anyone else.
One could also argue that "anyone" was different to them. He was a sort of happy-go-lucky person who
took all the fortunes and misfortunes of life in his stride. Generally we don't enjoy seeing other people
being happy all the time and so we resent it.
I wonder why we tend to resent other people's good nature and good fortunes?
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- What does the poet mean when he says, "they sowed their isn't they reaped their
same"? (4)
[Need help?]
This is, of course, based on the biblical expression, "As you sow, so shall you reap". The villagers reap
precisely what they sow.
What do they sow? Negativity. They are negative in their attitude. They therefore sow "their isn't", their
nothingness, their negativity. And that is precisely what they reap: "their same". They reap the same
negativity that they planted.
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- What is the purpose of the jingle "sun moon stars rain", which is repeated twice more in this poem but
again in different order? (4)
[Need help?]
We are again presented with the passing of time, the changes from day to night, from good weather to
rain. Notice though that all four of these things come from above. We actually have to look up into the
sky to see the sun, the moon, the stars and the rain. And looking up should force a person to be positive.
Is there anything else you can see in this?
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"children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more"
- What does the poet mean when he says that the "children guessed"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet believed it possible to reach an ideal spiritual state by use of intuition. Children, he says, do this
all the time. Children are in the ideal spiritual state. "Guess" therefore means that they did it by intuition,
by their very nature of being children.
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- Rewrite the following in your own words so that the meaning is clear: "but only a few | and down they
forgot as up they grew | autumn winter spring summer". (4)
[Need help?]
What about: "Not all children have this ability of seeing the truth by intuition. Some merely follow their
parents' prejudices. On the other hand, even those few who do have intuition nevertheless also grow up
with the passing of time and they lose their intuition and become the stereotype of negativity as are all the
other people."
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- What do the children guess? (4)
[Need help?]
The children guess that "anyone" is alone in the world, ostracised by the people. On the other hand, if
"noone" is also the name of a person, then the children can see that at least one person came to love
"anyone".
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- If "noone" is a person, what do you know about this person? (4)
[Need help?]
There are a number of things we do know. In the next verse, the poet refers to "noone" as female ("she
laughed his joy she cried his grief") whereas "anyone" is a male. This female is also very close to "anyone
in that she understands his joy and his grief. Indeed, she empathises. She feels with him, laughing at him
when he is happy or crying with him when he is sad.
Is the poet referring to his own wife? Some commentators believe so. The poet was divorced from his
first wife but lived for some 30 years with his second. It was during this period that he wrote much of his
poetry. He appears to refer to her sometimes but never by name.
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"when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her"
- What words tell us that "noone" was totally devoted to "anyone"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet says that "anyone's any was all to her". In other words, whatever "anyone" did or experienced,
like his pain and his joy, was totally important to her ("was all to her")
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- Comment on the words "when by now", "tree by leaf", "bird by snow" and "stir by
still". (4)
[Need help?]
These phrases give us information by means of contrasting with something else. For example, we know
things about the past and the future by comparing them with the present ("when by now").
A tree is known by its leaf: budding leaves means a tree full of life whereas a tree with falling leaves or
no leaves at all is either dormant or dead.
A bird, on the other hand, does not breed in snow (unless it's a penguin) while "stir" and "still" are exact
opposites.
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