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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:
"someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then) they
said their nevers they slept their dream"
- What is the primary purpose of this verse? (4)
[Need help?]
Essentially this verse looks at the passing of time in the village. People do what people do. They marry,
they laugh, they cry, they celebrate and eventually they die.
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- What does the poet mean when he says, "they said their nevers they slept their
dream"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is, of course, referring to all the things we say we should do but never get around to doing. And
then we die and it is too late. It is as if the "nevers" are a whole string of prayers being prayed at the grave
side as the dead person is lowered to his / her final place of rest where he / she will dream his / her final
everlasting dream.
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"stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)"
- The word "snow" is mentioned a couple of times in this poem. What is its general
meaning? (2)
[Need help?]
Snow in this poem is usually linked to the negative things of life - and also to death.
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- What is it that the children "are apt to forget to remember"? (4)
[Need help?]
It has been stated elsewhere that children are more likely to be ruled by their intuition. As a result they
tend to see the positive side of life. This, the poet says, is something that they should remember but, as
they grow older, they are inclined to forget it and they become just as negative as their parents and the
other adults.
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"one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was"
- There would appear to be a contradiction here. When Anyone dies, Noone is as his grave to kiss his
face and say farewell. But then, says the poet, "busy folk buried them side by side". Explain? How could
they both be buried "side by side" when she is kissing his face? (4)
[Need help?]
We are probably again faced with the passing of time. First, "anyone" dies and "noone" is at his grave to
say her farewells. Then later "noone" herself dies and is buried alongside "anyone".
On the other hand, it is also possible to interpret this as: When "anyone" died, there was no-one to mourn
his death. "anyone" meant nothing to the people and so, when he was buried, his alter ego called "noone"
was also buried with him. Both "anyone" and "noone" therefore ceased to exist at the same time.
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- Why does the poet say "i guess"? Why does he not know? (4)
[Need help?]
Is this a case that "anyone" is not a person but refers to the many people who are like this? It refers to
everyone. But everyone dies. And so this imaginary character must die - he supposes.
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"all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes."
- What could the poet's reference to "april" mean? (4)
[Need help?]
April in the northern hemisphere is the middle of spring. Spring is when all the sowing takes place if the
harvest is to happen by August before winter arrives.
By April, the sowing should already have happened and people can relax. That is then the time when
weddings traditionally took place.
Is the reference in this verse to a wedding between "anyone" and "noone", a wedding which takes place
in the grave, in the earth and in April? In which case, it's also the time when the "wish" and the "spirit"
become one, when the "if" becomes the "yes".
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"Women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain"
- Why the "dong and ding"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet uses "dong and ding" probably for no particular reason except for his love of playing with words
and for their musical sounds. "Dong" and "ding" are opposite in sound, just as women and men are
opposites in real life.
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- What does the poet mean when he says that the villagers "reaped their sowing and went their
came"? (4)
[Need help?]
Again a reference to the idea "What you sow, so shall you reap". The villagers have sowed their negativity
and selfishness, and now they reap precisely that. One would expect that they "went their way". But they
didn't. They followed the precise route that they set out for themselves, i.e. being forced to accept
whatever it is that comes their way, what they sowed. "They went their came".
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What is the purpose in this poem of the constant use of short words, the repetition and the playing around
with word order? (10)
[Need help?]
The poet's theme is the cycle of life, the steady plodding through life with little change, always repeating
the same negative attitudes and mistakes. The poet portrays this through repetition, and the short
plodding words. His repetition of the seasons also succeeds in revealing this passing of time, from one
season to another, on and on and on generation after generation.
At the same time, the lack of the upper case together with the playing around with the word order
succeeds in creating a sense of ambiguity. We are never quite sure what the poet means. Is he referring
to anything in particular or is everything a vague generalisation?
In other words, the poet forces the reader to think and to interpret the poem for himself / herself. Nothing
is as it would seem to be. Everything is in a state of change while at the same time repeating what it
always was.
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