Jim Asher's Blog - Posts Tagged "e-e-cummings"
Double Talk -- Part 2
Only July 20th, I began a “TOP SEVEN” list of my favorite images, words and lines of E. E. Cummings’ poetry where there are at least two meanings as a result of the way Cummings divided the word(s). In that blog entry, I included numbers 7, 6, 5, and 4 from my list. Below are my top three:
3. The representation of time and place during a silent snow in "Beautiful":
Beautiful
is the
unmea
ning
of(sil
ently)fal
ling(e
ver
yw
here)s
Now
As I said in #5 on my list of “Top Seven” favorites, Cummings often represented loneliness, silence and isolation with images of snow and snowflakes. In “Beautiful,” though, snow represents an allure and serenity associated with some state of nothingness or some condition of “unmeaning,” not worthless emptiness. In lines 7 to 11, Cummings splits the word “everywhere” and “snow” so that the pure, unblemished state represented by the ubiquitous snow is falling “everywhere,” “here” (line 10), and “now” (line 11).
2. The emphasis on singularity by dividing the word "loneliness" and by using a lower case “L” in "l(a":
l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
In “l(a,” Cummings offers the concrete image of a leaf falling to represent the abstract concept of loneliness. Of course, he structured the poem to reflect the path of the leaf, but he also split “loneliness” in ways to reinforce the image:
Line 1: The lower case “L” looks like a “1,” and it is separated by a parenthesis from the singular article “a”
Line 7: The word “one” appears.
Line 8: The lower case “L” appears as a “1.”
For more on this poem, please see my blog entry dated June 11, 2012.
1.. The concept of “growing old” and “owing old” in "old age sticks":
old age sticks
up Keep
Off
signs)&
youth yanks them
down(old
age cries No
Tres)&(pas)
youth laughs
(sing
old age
scolds Forbid
den Stop
Must
n't Don't
&)youth goes
right on
gr
owing old
I love covering this poem with students. Before I begin any discussion of the poem, though, I set the stage by explaining that there are TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS in the poem – TWO WORDS that elevate the poem beyond its fundamental meaning. Then we start the conversation.
Of course, students quickly pick up on the aspects of the poem that convey old age versus youth, and it’s always fun to discuss generational differences (especially with examinations of music, dance, clothing, hair styles, trends, fads, and so on). Particularly astute students notice that all of the language in the poem representing “old age” is confined within parentheses while the words representing “youth” are not.
After we examine the words, the mechanics and the structure of the poem, I remind them about the TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS– and the students try to figure out what I’m talking about. We examine their ideas, and then I underline what I think are the TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS: “owing old” – taken from the words “growing old” in the final two lines of the poem.
I explain that while there are always generational differences and that teenagers always rebel and stretch the limits, they really “owe” those who came before them: What past musicians influenced the styles of current musicians? What past artists paved the way for the work of contemporary artists? What historical thinkers opened doors for the ideas of modern-day thinkers?
Yes, there are always generational gaps and rifts – but youth “goes right on growing old” – just as we are all always “owing old.”
So there you have it—my “TOP SEVEN” uses of words/phrases with double meanings brought about by the ingenious placement of letters and/or syllables in the poetry of E. E. Cummings. Do you have other favorites?
3. The representation of time and place during a silent snow in "Beautiful":
Beautiful
is the
unmea
ning
of(sil
ently)fal
ling(e
ver
yw
here)s
Now
As I said in #5 on my list of “Top Seven” favorites, Cummings often represented loneliness, silence and isolation with images of snow and snowflakes. In “Beautiful,” though, snow represents an allure and serenity associated with some state of nothingness or some condition of “unmeaning,” not worthless emptiness. In lines 7 to 11, Cummings splits the word “everywhere” and “snow” so that the pure, unblemished state represented by the ubiquitous snow is falling “everywhere,” “here” (line 10), and “now” (line 11).
2. The emphasis on singularity by dividing the word "loneliness" and by using a lower case “L” in "l(a":
l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
In “l(a,” Cummings offers the concrete image of a leaf falling to represent the abstract concept of loneliness. Of course, he structured the poem to reflect the path of the leaf, but he also split “loneliness” in ways to reinforce the image:
Line 1: The lower case “L” looks like a “1,” and it is separated by a parenthesis from the singular article “a”
Line 7: The word “one” appears.
Line 8: The lower case “L” appears as a “1.”
For more on this poem, please see my blog entry dated June 11, 2012.
1.. The concept of “growing old” and “owing old” in "old age sticks":
old age sticks
up Keep
Off
signs)&
youth yanks them
down(old
age cries No
Tres)&(pas)
youth laughs
(sing
old age
scolds Forbid
den Stop
Must
n't Don't
&)youth goes
right on
gr
owing old
I love covering this poem with students. Before I begin any discussion of the poem, though, I set the stage by explaining that there are TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS in the poem – TWO WORDS that elevate the poem beyond its fundamental meaning. Then we start the conversation.
Of course, students quickly pick up on the aspects of the poem that convey old age versus youth, and it’s always fun to discuss generational differences (especially with examinations of music, dance, clothing, hair styles, trends, fads, and so on). Particularly astute students notice that all of the language in the poem representing “old age” is confined within parentheses while the words representing “youth” are not.
After we examine the words, the mechanics and the structure of the poem, I remind them about the TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS– and the students try to figure out what I’m talking about. We examine their ideas, and then I underline what I think are the TWO VERY IMPORTANT WORDS: “owing old” – taken from the words “growing old” in the final two lines of the poem.
I explain that while there are always generational differences and that teenagers always rebel and stretch the limits, they really “owe” those who came before them: What past musicians influenced the styles of current musicians? What past artists paved the way for the work of contemporary artists? What historical thinkers opened doors for the ideas of modern-day thinkers?
Yes, there are always generational gaps and rifts – but youth “goes right on growing old” – just as we are all always “owing old.”
So there you have it—my “TOP SEVEN” uses of words/phrases with double meanings brought about by the ingenious placement of letters and/or syllables in the poetry of E. E. Cummings. Do you have other favorites?
