E.E. Cummings Poetry

[Nossa]

This and another poem are the only two I read by E.E. Cummings actually...but I just LOVED this one..

From "maggie and milly and molly and may"

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and



....

[downing]

Janine, seems that Nossa posted the poem sooner . Good, this will let me comment the poem a bit. I read all kinds of interpretation for this poem:

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

I saw somewhere an interpretation that maggie,milly,molly and may are adults and that they are going to the beach and become again children because they play. Sincerely, I do not agree with this viewpoint- I believe that the 4 girls are children and that they simply go to the beach and play. Another user on that site said that we can remark the girls' characters from their activities: he said that maggie was superficial because she forgot so soon her troubles, after listening to a shell's ''melody'' and so on....I do not agree with this interpretation either.
I think that the verses

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

are full of wisdom and they revolve around the idea of how huge loneliness is-even bigger than the world which we usually perceive enormous.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.

The final distich refers to the ''moral''-we find ourselvs in the sea, possibly because when we look in the water, we see our reflection. And another idea I read is that the sea is a metaphor for our soul, so whatever we lose, it's always ourselves we find within us.

I can hardly wait to see your oppinions and come with other interpretations,as well.

[dramasnot6]

B+N was running a hardcover complete works in one volume sale about two weeks ago and i picked up E.E. for about ten bucks. Maybe it's still on. quasimodo1

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[Nossa]

Janine, seems that Nossa posted the poem sooner . Good, this will let me comment the poem a bit. I read all kinds of interpretation for this poem:



I saw somewhere an interpretation that maggie,milly,molly and may are adults and that they are going to the beach and become again children because they play. Sincerely, I do not agree with this viewpoint- I believe that the 4 girls are children and that they simply go to the beach and play. Another user on that site said that we can remark the girls' characters from their activities: he said that maggie was superficial because she forgot so soon her troubles, after listening to a shell's ''melody'' and so on....I do not agree with this interpretation either.
I think that the verses
are full of wisdom and they revolve around the idea of how huge loneliness is-even bigger than the world which we usually perceive enormous.



The final distich refers to the ''moral''-we find ourselvs in the sea, possibly because when we look in the water, we see our reflection. And another idea I read is that the sea is a metaphor for our soul, so whatever we lose, it's always ourselves we find within us.

I can hardly wait to see your oppinions and come with other interpretations,as well.

First, I'm sorry, I didn't know that someone was gonna post this poem before me
Now the only way I can interpret this poem, is summed up in the last couplet. The fact that each girl had a different thing when they went to the seaside, is exactly what the poem is trying to tell us. It doesn't matter what the girls are like, the point here is that each of them got what fitted here. In other words, each of the girls found what interests her, and that is further elaborated when the poet himself said by the end of the poem that whatever we lose, we can easily find, just by going to the seaside.
Now the part about whether the girls are children or adults, this can be debatable. I can relate to both opinions though. Maybe the girls ARE adults who go to the seaside to seek what they lost before, thier innocence, these childish dreams which the poet depicted. Such as making friends with a star or finding a singing shell. On the other hand, they might be just little childten who went to play near the sea, and through this scene the poet is also trying to convey the idea he said in the last two lines. He was trying to make us identify with these girls, and remember the child missing within each of us.

[Janine]

Nossa, This is one of my all time favorite e e cummings poems. I have read it hundreds of times. Downing was referring to the fast that I just emailed her the poem the other night and then I discovered this thread when she told me about it. No problem, that you posted it. I have others I would like to post, as well. I was thrilled to see someone else who loved the poem, as well as I do.

Downing, thanks for providing us with this insight into the reviewers comments on the meaning of the poem. It certainly gives us something added to consider. I, myself, look at the poem 'simply', since I love going to the seaside; I love hunting for shells and creatures on the beach.
My favorite lines are the two stanzas that Downing has pointed out, especially the one about the stone. I, for one, always find 'my true self' when I go to the ocean's edge, so the last line means renewal or rebirth to me, personally.

[Janine]

Here is my all time favorite e e cummings poem

From "in time of daffodils"

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes



....

[quasimodo1]

To Janine: I didn't know you were so fond of E.E.Cummings. The man and his poetry were ahead of their time and whatever items in his biography that some might use to diminish his genious are a factor of his lifestyle and of only the most peripheral interest. Did you explore the great website I posted on this thread? quasi

[Janine]

To Janine: I didn't know you were so fond of E.E.Cummings. The man and his poetry were ahead of their time and whatever items in his biography that some might use to diminish his genious are a factor of his lifestyle and of only the most peripheral interest. Did you explore the great website I posted on this thread? quasi

quasi, I did not get a chance to check out the site yet. I want to; thanks for posting it. I have been a big fan of cummings for years. I had a nearly complete book of his poems and several other smaller ones such as 99 poems. How could I ignore such a creative and graphicly expressive artist/poet as cummings. He was far ahead of his time and certainly was a great genius. I will be very interested in that site indeed. I have several works I picked up recently from the library free shelf - one is his prose piece "The Enormous Room", which I someday intend to read. I am tired so I hope I got that title correct. Now actually my brain is asleep so that is where I am headed, too. Goodnight!

[Nossa]

Here is my all time favorite e e cummings poem

in time of daffodils

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

....

WOW!! Simply great! Thank you SO much for posting is Janine. You're gonna make me start reading more of E.E. Cummings poems now

[Janine]

WOW!! Simply great! Thank you SO much for posting is Janine. You're gonna make me start reading more of E.E. Cummings poems now

Hi Nossa, so glad you liked it. That is my all time favorite of his. This is my second favorite:

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
by E. E. Cummings


somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

The last line was used in the Woody Allen film "Hannah and Her Sisters". I nearly fell on the floor in the theater, when the line came up on the screen. I knew the poem so well by then. It seemed the line was speaking directly to me at the time. Interesting poem, is it not?

Yes, I surely hope you do read more cummings - it is totally worth your while!

[Adolescent09]

Can someone please explain why these two poems are so profound? I've spent the last three days reddening my eyes sore with pondering:

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[Nossa]

Hi Nossa, so glad you liked it. That is my all time favorite of his. This is my second favorite:



The last line was used in the Woody Allen film "Hannah and Her Sisters". I nearly fell on the floor in the theater, when the line came up on the screen. I knew the poem so well by then. It seemed the line was speaking directly to me at the time. Interesting poem, is it not?

Yes, I surely hope you do read more cummings - it is totally worth your while!

I sure will read more of his works. I just can't seem to find any of his works here...I searched yesterday in every place I know
And I LOVE that poem you posted...Gosh, it got me imaging EVERY little detail he mentioned...just GREAT!!

[Virgil]

Can someone please explain why these two poems are so profound? I've spent the last three days reddening my eyes sore with pondering:

Adol

I don't find them profound. Just because one arranges letters on a page in a fancy/different way does not make it profound. I know everyone else will throw tomatoes at me for saying this, but I don't find e.e. cummings profound. I'm not saying he's a bad poet; he makes me smile on occaision But I don't feel he's either revolutionary or deep or even in the top tier of poets of his day.

OK, everyone fling your tomatoes.

[Janine]

Adol

I don't find them profound. Just because one arranges letters on a page in a fancy/different way does not make it profound. I know everyone else will throw tomatoes at me for saying this, but I don't find e.e. cummings profound. I'm not saying he's a bad poet; he makes me smile on occaision But I don't feel he's either revolutionary or deep or even in the top tier of poets of his day.

OK, everyone fling your tomatoes.

You asked for it - SPLAT!

[quasimodo1]

To Janine: Nobody is going to throw anything but many of his works are profound and many are joyful. Top tier? How about near there. quasi