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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:
This is essentially a poem dealing with innuendo. What is the purpose of these innuendos? (6)
[Need help?]
One has to be able to contrast this poem with the typical realities of the Great War and its emphasis on
trench warfare.
One usually reads so much about the hardship of the war, the dreadful life in the trenches, the honour of
fighting, the people back home providing the back-up services, etc. In this poem, however, all this is
dismissed with the repetition of "etcetera". To the poet, none of these things are in any way
important and may be dismissed by innuendo, leaving the reader to supply the rest of the information.
The focus for the poet, on the other hand, is his fantasy world, his dreams of his loved one. But there is
nothing honourable here, nothing romantic as such. It is all summed up in his base dreams of her body,
culminating in the last great "Etcetera" -- using the upper-case to show its importance. The poet
again makes use of innuendo but, in this case, for purposes of censorship.
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Psychologists point out that young men think of sex roughly every six to ten seconds. On the other hand,
the word "etcetera" is used no less than eight times in this poem.
- Is there any connection? (6)
[Need help?]
If one reads this poem out aloud -- which I hope you have done because that is how ee cummings should
be read -- it will take you about a minute to complete the reading. Divide eight -- for the eight uses of
etcetera" -- into 60 seconds, being the time it takes to read the poem. The word "etcetera"
is therefore used on average every 7.5 seconds which is roughly equal to the number of times a young
man thinks of sex.
This is just a thought.
On the other hand, the poet uses the word only once during the first half of the poem, and seven times
during the second half. Indeed, he uses "etcetera" more and more often as he reaches the climax:
his thoughts of his loved-one's body and her "Etcetera".
It is therefore as if this word is synonymous with his sexual thoughts which flash more and more rapidly
across the poet's mind the closer he gets to the ultimate thought of her "Etcetera".
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The poet defines five totally different character types. Explain. (10)
[Need help?]
There are indeed five totally different characters:
The aunt who has a rational opinion about the war and its causes, and who likes to hold forth continuously
on this subject.
The sister who is actively engaged in the war effort, knitting all sorts of oddments for the soldiers on the
battlefront.
The mother who is caught up in the ultimate honour of seeing her son fighting and dying for his country.
The father who also believes it is an honour to fight and die for one's country but would like that privilege
for himself -- or, at least, so he says.
And then there's the young soldier on the battlefield whose mind, like that of all the young men, thinks
continual thoughts of sex.
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The poem is moulded into numerous short verses and equally short lines. Indeed, some of the lines
consist of only one syllable. Is there any specific purpose for doing so? (4)
[Need help?]
We need the poet himself to explain this, I suppose. Nevertheless, is it not something to do with the rapid
thoughts leaping through the young soldier's mind, hopping around like a grasshopper which seldom
settles for long on any one thing -- and keeps landing on the thought of sex?
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Contrast the words, thoughts and activities of the four family members with those of the soldier. (10)
[Need help?]
You could go back to a previous answer but for those of you who are too lazy to do so, here it is again:
The aunt who has a rational opinion about the war and its causes, and who likes to hold forth continuously
on this subject.
The sister who is actively engaged in the war effort, knitting all sorts of oddments for the soldiers on the
battlefront.
The mother who is caught up in the ultimate honour of seeing her son fighting and dying for his country.
The father who also believes it is an honour to fight and die for one's country but would like that privilege
for himself -- or, at least, so he says.
And then there's the young soldier on the battlefield whose mind, like that of all the young men, thinks
continual thoughts of sex.
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Discuss the sarcasm in the poem. (10)
[Need help?]
The poet's view of the war is in stark contrast to the traditionally accepted attitudes of the people all around
him. Whereas the others see war as filled with honour and glory, the poet dismisses all this as irrelevant.
One could discuss each of the poet's characters as illustrations of this.
The poet dismisses their thoughts and activities with the simple "etcetera", as if all of this were
meaningless. Even the events in the trenches are dismissed.
The only reality, the only important thing in the young soldier's mind, is the thought of sex. It is sex,
therefore, which lies at the centre of every man's brain, not the heroics of the battlefield. This is something
that is illustrated very clearly by the use of the upper-case for "Your smile" and the final sexual
innuendo "Etcetera".
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