All in green went my love riding
on a great horse of gold
into the silver dawn.

four lean hounds crouched low and smiling
the merry deer ran before.

Fleeter be they than dappled dreams
the swift sweet deer
the red rare deer.

Four red roebuck at a white water
the cruel bugle sang before.

Horn at hip went my love riding
riding the echo down
into the silver dawn.

four lean hounds crouched low and smiling
the level meadows ran before.

Softer be they than slippered sleep
the lean lithe deer
the fleet flown deer.

Four fleet does at a gold valley
the famished arrow sang before.

Bow at belt went my love riding
riding the mountain down
into the silver dawn.

four lean hounds crouched low and smiling
the sheer peaks ran before.

Paler be they than daunting death
the sleek slim deer
the tall tense deer.

Four tell stags at a green mountain
the lucky hunter sang before.

All in green went my love riding
on a great horse of gold
into the silver dawn.

four lean hounds crouched low and smiling
my heart fell dead before.

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem All in green went my love riding

19 Comments

  1. Zefnar Magus says:

    Think about the pervasive use of color throughout. All in GREEN went my love riding. His love is filled with envy. Jealousy.

    The imagery of the deer is associated with serenity, beauty, passion. Four RED roebuck at a WHITE water. Softer than slipper sleep, the swift sweet deer.

    The huntress and her dogs, on the other hand, are lean, cruel, famished, crouched low and smiling. Consumed with jealous rage. Vindictive.

    All in green went my love riding
    my heart fell dead before.

  2. Caitlin James says:

    This poem relates back to greek mythology. He doesnt kill his lover and he doesnt die, it is from a point of view of another. It relates back to Diana or Artemis, goddess and protectress of wildlife, is challenged by the hunter Actaeon. She turns her love Actaeon in to a stag or deer. His own hounds end up killing him. This is Cummings interpretation and retelling of this event. He conveys a beautiful theme and yet such a sad and over whelming ending.

  3. princess says:

    i think, this poem is for his first wife. who left him for a wealthy irish banker. the green would refer to money.
    i love this poem.

  4. fjklasj;dl says:

    this poem is sooooo confusing and full of shit… wtf is it talking about???

  5. ee cummings says:

    this shit sux

  6. Kristy Han says:

    It’s so wonderful but bit confusing-
    But I love it!!

  7. julia says:

    this is a really interesting poem. Does he die at the end or does he kill his love? I am a bit confused.

  8. Frankie says:

    this poem remind me of an old irish song about Molly Bawn. Her love accidently shoots her because she looks like a swan while he is out hunting. In this poem it seems his love went out for a ride in the woods and was killed by a hunter as well, though not the narrator himself.

  9. Daniel Clarke says:

    does anyone notce at the end of the poem the play on the word “heart” heart sounds like hart which also means deer. i don’t know maybe that’s really obvious tho…

  10. cluelees says:

    Ok..im clueless…what is the true meaning of the poem though.What does the title truely mean?All in Green went my love riding?

  11. Patrick D says:

    this is a wonderful poem. the hypnotic weaving of rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration creates a religious effect a la the celtic bards. this poem, either consciously or unconsciously, represents a classic testimony to the power of love as embodied by the Triple Moon Goddess of ancient lore. i expect robert graves considered this a “true” poem. to me, this is cummings’ best technical effort, and my second favorite among all his poems.

  12. Joshua says:

    What is romantic about the poem is not the hunting scene but, rather Cummings’s richness of color, internal rhyme, and alliteration. The message of the poem is tragic…

  13. nobodie says:

    The title of Mr. Cummings’s poem is not “All in green went my love riding.” It is actually “All in green my love went riding.”

  14. Paige says:

    I found this poem in my Lit. book, and it has become one of my favorites! e.e. cummings is truly a master craftsman! He has become my third favorite, behind Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allen Poe

  15. liana pehrsson-berindei says:

    Kinetik “tableau vivant” of a hunting scene.
    In the last verse, the deer and the lover become one slained by the arrow of the beloved one.
    Something medieval about the poem….

  16. ML Comber says:

    One of my favorite love poems – for years I wore all green – hoping that someone would recite the poem to me, and I would go off with him without looking back.

  17. Michael says:

    This poem was put to music and sung by Joan Baez as a slow haunting ballad. I work specially well as a song.

  18. Amanda says:

    reminds me of the Petrarchan sonnet we read in my Lit class, with the woman as a deer that the man hunts and fails to catch, only the roles are reversed. also brings to mind the song “Greensleeves” and the myth of Artemis/Diana. cummings is all over the place with this one…

  19. Esena says:

    I like this poem. It is sad, but the discriptions in it are so good, it brings you there.

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