if there are any heavens my mother will

if there are any heavens my mother will(all by herself)have
one. It will not be a pansy heaven nor
a fragile heaven of lilies-of-the-valley but
it will be a heaven of blackred roses

my father will be(deep like a rose
tall like a rose)

standing near my

(swaying over her
silent)
with eyes which are really petals and see

nothing with the face of a poet really which
is a flower and not a face with
hands
which whisper
This is my beloved my

(suddenly in sunlight

he will bow,

& the whole garden will bow)

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem if there are any heavens my mother will

8 Comments

  1. thereisabluebirdinmyheart says:

    His father is a rose in his mothers heaven. His eyes are petals, his face is a flower (not a face with hands. put your hands against the side of your head and spread you fingers – it looks like petals on a flower, but he is a flower.) Also, I like how he and the rest of the flowers bow in the presence of sunlight, i.e. his beloved

  2. Stumpy says:

    This poem is a bit hard to follow in the beginning but if you read it a second time you will better understand it and realize that it is a great work of poetry and is very deep.

  3. Gimpy says:

    The poem was very dull the first time i read it, but when i took the time and read it the second time the poem was very touching.

  4. sasha says:

    at first it didn’t seem quite interesting. than the second time i read it i was like WOW. its so beautiful. full of meaning. it really shows love.

  5. Stephanie Blondal says:

    Simply gorgeous.

  6. Kevin Kuan Boon Sen says:

    New insight on top of my ealier stuff, we could actually view the poem as the poet describing a scene where his father brought him to visit his mother’s graveyard, never leaving it untended and thus a heaven of black red roses and not the fragile lily of the valleys which usually grow in such places

  7. Kevin Kuan Boon Sen says:

    A beautiful poem based on impressions. Every line is open to different interpretations as it is not punctuated and restricted as if it were an open picture. It may help to just picture the poem as it is. Firstly why does the poem start with IF. the heaven not being a pansy or fragile heaven shows the poets wish that it will be full of substance and eternal. Black Red roses may symbolize a love filled with substance and blood but also carries the nuance of the mother mourning the father’s death. the fact that the father is like the roses of the mother’s heaven just goes to show he is the focal point of the mother’s heaven. The definition of nothing is also varied, it could refer to a nobody or plainly (with the face of a poet he sees nothing), the face of a poet either refers to an appreciative artist or a complicated brooder not like the simple flower following the sunshine without having to see but feel, (not)a face with hands could either refer to that (not seeing) a sobbing mother, a father (not) with his palm to the face deep in consternation or fustration, or (not) a clock thus in the mother’s case referring to eternal beauty, in the father’s case not limiting the time for his wife to be with him. (with eyes) which whisper this is my beloved my has a very simple explanation. the father’s love for the mother is so much that it actually pours forth from his eyes, the window of the mind, his love is so great that words are no longer needed to express his love even if it could. his eyes gently whispers “This is my beloved, my…” unable to raise his wife any further in her perfect state in his eyes he proceeds to give his ultimate gesture of respect, humbling himself. He bows to the person who appreciates him. In the glory of the one he loved and loved by he bows and in such all the other things worthy of being in the mother’s heaven follow suit the main object of the mother’s heaven. A truly touching masterpiece indeed of a child’s love to his mother!

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