since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
If you read this poem and were confused by the poor grammar, that's the point. It's one of the reasons, among others, that I like this poem so much. The first lines state the importance of feeling, and then remark on the unimportance of syntax (which is appropriate because the syntax is incorrect). I like this because the poem is giving meaning to itself by saying that the reader needs to focus on the feelings that the poem evokes for them personally, not the direct words of the author. You could read it as "who pays attention to the syntax of things," or as "the syntax of things will never wholly kiss you," or you could separate the thoughts completely. The lines "kisses are a better fate / than wisdom," also reinforce his idea that the feelings are more important than anything else. The ending lines are by far my favorite part of the poem. After the description of the way being with the girl he loves makes him feel, he says "life's not a paragraph," which means something to the effect of life is not short or simple like a paragraph or that life is more than just the words on a page. The last line "death i think is no parenthesis," could mean that death is a reality, not an extra not added in parenthesis. However, it could also mean that the life one has lived is not bound by the parentheses that death is.
I think this is a perfect testament to the nature of the human condition- how do we separate the way things are from the way we are told they should be? A poem must have correct syntax, but why? To what end? What is the point? We put what we think and what we feel into a tiny little box of structure and syntax and grammar and punctuation, but how does one correctly punctuate a kiss?
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is really cool and the way you wrote about it was very interesting. The words really made me think and I was interested in what I was reading. I am a very big EE Cummings fan, and even quoted him in my college essay. This was a very well written and engaging post.
ReplyDeleteI really like this poem as well and you can really see your passion about it too. I agree that i also don't like the expectations in the world to be perfect and this poem really illustrates that.
ReplyDelete