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e.e. cummings - i am a little church

i am a little church(no great cathedral)
far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities
-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,
i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;
my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving
(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children
whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing
birth and glory and death and resurrection:
over my sleeping self float flaming symbols
of hope,and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church(far from the frantic
world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature
-i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;
i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring,i lift my diminutive spire to
merciful Him Whose only now is forever:
standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence
(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

Added: on August 19th, 2005 at 12:55 PM | Viewed: 21525 times | Comments and analysis of i am a little church by e.e. cummings Comments (7)


i am a little church - Comments and Information

Poet: e.e. cummings
Poem: i am a little church

Comment 7 of 7, added on March 24th, 2008 at 9:37 PM.

I believe with all my heart that this poem is about self, and is one of his most moving works. Self, at peace with the world, and full of faith.

Jill Brooks from United States
Comment 6 of 7, added on April 13th, 2006 at 10:16 AM.

im usingthis poem for a project in english. i think in a way it uses symbolsm, you dont have to be big to be important. whatever it is i love it

jessika miller
Comment 5 of 7, added on August 19th, 2005 at 12:55 PM.

Did anyone else pick up on his use of a capitalized god (Him) in a poem with his trademark no other capital letters. Strange for the son of a Unitarian minister of that era or not?

Lyman from United States

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