i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
Edward Estlin Cummings, known as E. E. Cummings, was a poet who was widely known for his experimental syntax and non-standard use of the English language and poetic forms, as you’ve probably already guessed after reading the poem above. E. E. Cummings was influenced by other modernist poets, like Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, as well as the Dada and Surrealist movements in art. Cummings said of his motivations for writing poetry: “my only interest in making money would be to make it. Fortunately,however,I should prefer to make almost anything else,including locomotives and roses. It is with roses and locomotives(not to mention acrobats Spring electricity Coney Island the 4th of July the eyes of mice and Niagara Falls,that my ‘poems’ are competing. They are also competing with each other,with elephants,and with El Greco.” Cummings had a beautifully simple view of the world, and he created poetry because it was what he loved. His proclivity for his unusual style was even apparent when he was six years old, as seen in this letter he wrote to his father:
FATHER DEAR. BE, YOUR FATHER-GOOD AND GOOD,
HE IS GOOD NOW, IT IS NOT GOOD TO SEE IT RAIN,
FATHER DEAR IS, IT, DEAR, NO FATHER DEAR,
LOVE, YOU DEAR,
ESTLIN.
Some of Cumming’s poetry is free verse, meaning that it has no discernable rhythm or rhyme, while some of his other poems have a sonnet structure. By not following any strict standards, Cumming’s poetry feels alive and human. His untitled love poem above is sweet and intimate. The sentences run together, and the technique of enjambment—where a sentence is continued past a line without drawing breath—evokes the sense that the author is speaking intently without pausing at the appropriate times for breath. Much of Cumming’s work focused on the popular themes of love, nature, and death. With his unique style and relatable topics, Cumming’s poetry has resonated with generations of writers.
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