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The poet's persona lies in a trench in northern France during the Great War, contemplating what his family
is thinking and doing. They are mostly involved either in making oddments of clothing for him and the
other soldiers, thinking about his gallantry or considering questions about the war itself. He, in the
meantime, is thinking about sex.
NOTE ON THE POET
ee cummings -- his real name was Edward Estlin -- was born in Massachusetts in 1894. His father was
a professor of Sociology and Political Science at Harvard University but who later became 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' 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, but he had a strong bias towards the
exuberance of love, sex and spiritual rebirth.
Cummings died of a stroke on September 3, 1962. He was 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:
The "sweet old etcetera aunt lucy" knows the causes of "the recent war".
- What war is being referred to? How do you know? (4)
[Need help?]
It's the 1st World War which at the time was called "The Great War". We know that the poet fought
in that war. Indeed, he was arrested and imprisoned for treason because he wrote somewhere that he
did not actually hate the Germans -- one has to hate one's enemy!
Apart from this, women at home spent much of their time knitting things likes socks and ear-warmers for
the soldiers. It was also a war supposedly to end all wars, which meant it bore an heroic overtone where
it was regarded as honourable to fight and die for the cause -- a point made by the parents.
Finally, the deep mud in which the soldier spends his time is indicative of the trench warfare in northern
France, a thing that became synonymous with the Great War.
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- Comment on the poet's sarcasm in the words "could and what is more did tell you just what
everybody was fighting for". (4)
[Need help?]
Although the poet is respectful towards the aunt -- "my sweet old etcetera aunt lucy" -- he
nevertheless portrays her as a busybody who appears to know everything. The reality is, of course, that
historians have argued long and hard ever since to determine what did actually cause that war, but the
aunt knows it all already.
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- Is there any hint of sarcasm when the poem addresses his aunt as "my sweet old etcetera aunt
lucy"? (4)
[Need help?]
The address is presented as a term of endearment although the "etcetera" tends to deviate from
all that. In other words, the poet is expressing all the nice things that one is supposed to say about one's
aunt, leaving the "etcetera" to fill in all the other details.
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"my sister
isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds)of socks not to
mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers
etcetera wristers etcetera"
- Why would his sister be creating all of these articles of clothing? (4)
[Need help?]
The Great War was the first global conflict in which civilians formed the bulk of the army. All previous
wars had seen mercenary and professional armies massed against each other, while the civilian
population at home had little interest in the campaign.
The sheer size of the armies during the Great War, however, meant that the military organisation was
stretched beyond its capacity, and so civilians back home were relied upon to do what they could to assist.
This often meant children scouring the fields for metal which could be smelted and turned into tanks,
bullets and shells. On the other hand, those women who were able would spend their free moments
knitting socks, jerseys, earmuffs, etc.
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- Why would the earwarmers need to be fleaproof? Is there any irony here? (4)
[Need help?]
The trenches were places where fleas swarmed. It was impossible to control them but at least, if the
soldiers ears could be covered while they slept, they could prevent the fleas irritating their ears and
keeping the soldiers awake.
Note the irony: it was probably lying in mud and water, with the sound of gunfire and the explosion of
shells, which kept the soldiers awake at night. And yet the sister is making the earwarmers fleaproof
rather than soundproof.
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- Why does the poet use "etcetera" twice in such rapid succession when speaking of what isabel
was creating? (2)
[Need help?]
The first "etcetera" was meant to wrap up all the things which isabel was making. The "wristers"
come as an afterthought which therefore needed its own "etcetera".
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- What is the purpose of the brackets in "hundreds (and hundreds)of socks"? (4)
[Need help?]
Brackets connote parenthesis -- words which are added to provide extra information but do not
necessarily form an essential part of the original statement. Dashes serve the same purpose.
In this case, the purpose of the parenthesis is to provide emphasis. Isabel is not only knitting hundreds
of socks but also hundreds and hundreds of socks.
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- If you were reading this poem out loud -- which is what you should be doing -- how would you read
the words in brackets? (2)
[Need help?]
Because the words in brackets are there to provide emphasis, they should therefore be read with due
emphasis to highlight them. By providing due emphasis, the humour of the situation is also highlighted.
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