Comment 21 of 62, added on July 17th, 2011 at 2:03 AM.

The final line is magnificent. It moves the poem from good to superlative.



Ortrud Radbod from Belgium

Comment 19 of 62, added on July 15th, 2009 at 10:02 AM.

it's not anyone lived in a pretty how town, now is it?
I agree with several posts, this poem stands out to me as one of several
that harken to his experiences in WWI. the harshness, the unrefined-ness of
his comrades, the extremes of behavior and the use of sex as a diversion
from the painful realities of war. we don't hear alot about sexual
compulsion before Viet Nam, but here it is,

Charles from United States

Comment 17 of 62, added on December 14th, 2008 at 9:51 PM.

Thanks, Larry, I garee with what you have said. As a Vietnam veteran, this
poem's images resonate with me. I wonder though if cummings may have
intended to say something more than just a tribute. It is my experience
that combat strips the refinement away from most every participant, not
just poorly educated common soldiers. I suspect that cummings himself felt
that same process based on his experiences in war. For me, he was a poet
who spoke his mind and had little to do with bullshit "civilized" veneers.

The images also go a little deeper: firing a mortar has a movement similar
to masturbation and machine guns can shake themselves and sound like
laughter. I seem to recall a description of a fictional characters
"machinegun-like laugh".

In summary, I find this poem to be both tribute and caveat: send your boys
(and girls) to war, expect them to return more than a bit unrefined.

jack from United States

Comment 15 of 62, added on March 18th, 2008 at 5:21 PM.

First off, I love e.e. cummings' poetry and have been looking for more.
This site has been the answer to that.
Anywho, I noticed that everyone here seems to have missed what jumped out
at me most: Especially compared to his other poems, the language e.e.
cummings uses here is itself unrefined. He is not a poet who tends to spew
colorful language like a sailor, as he seems to in this poem.
From what I can tell, he is intentionally being ironic here. I have to
look at this poem some more. e.e. cummings tends to be easy to glaze over,
and it's too easy to just ignore the meaning if you skim a poem.
You don't have to be an english scholar, but he certainly makes you think a
little.

Ben from United States

Comment 13 of 62, added on April 27th, 2006 at 5:32 PM.

I'm doing a report on this poem for a literature class which I really don't
care to write but...here's what I've recieved from the poem. I think it's
broader than JUST war. I think it expands in to the risks of what children
of his generation thought of as despicable. E.E. Cummings grew up a rich
child, played with other children who became famous and had parents who
were wealthy. He often met other kids who weren't as fortunate in the
backgrounds like him, the slum children. He grew up quite innocently
really, it was probably a culture shock when he met these types of children
and had spurts of arguments; and name calling with them. (Source: Dreams in
the Mirror, A Biography of E.E. Cummings Richard S. Kennedy)

Can someone tell me when this poem was written?



(not given) from United States