i sing of Olaf glad and big - A poem by e.e. cummings

e.e. cummings - i sing of Olaf glad and big

XXX

i sing of Olaf glad and big
whose warmest heart recoiled at war:
a conscientious object-or

his wellbelov'd colonel(trig
westpointer most succinctly bred)
took erring Olaf soon in hand; 
but--though an host of overjoyed 
noncoms(first knocking on the head 
him)do through icy waters roll 
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed 
anent this muddy toiletbowl, 
while kindred intellects evoke 
allegiance per blunt instruments--
Olaf(being to all intents
a corpse and wanting any rag 
upon what God unto him gave) 
responds,without getting annoyed 
"I will not kiss your fucking flag"

straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)

but--though all kinds of officers 
(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride) 
their passive prey did kick and curse
until for wear their clarion     
voices and boots were much the worse, 
and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease 
by means of skilfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat--
Olaf(upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"

our president,being of which
assertions duly notified         
threw the yellowsonofabitch
into a dungeon,where he died

Christ(of His mercy infinite)
i pray to see;and Olaf,too

preponderatingly because
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you.

Added: on April 6th, 2006 at 7:41 PM | Viewed: 26236 times | Comments and analysis of i sing of Olaf glad and big by e.e. cummings Comments (20)

i sing of Olaf glad and big - Comments and Information
Poet: e.e. cummings Poem: i sing of Olaf glad and big Poem of the Day: Jul 15 2002 Comment 20 of 20, added on February 20th, 2009 at 7:44 AM. I'm a blondish Norwegian-American, and my grandfather's name was Olaf. I never read the "blond" line as meaning anything more than a light-hearted, witty reference to his Scandinavian heritage, and nothing more need be read into it, IMHO. Michael from United States Comment 19 of 20, added on April 20th, 2007 at 2:49 AM. For cummings, I agree. It is not true for every poem, though. I mean, it's always all there on the page, but there is often a puzzle to figure out which procures a deeper meaning which requires analysis, unless you can immediately pick up on all allusions and their interaction upon the first reading, thus allowing them all to affect you emotionally the FIRST time. This is very difficult for a lot of poetry. Such is true of a lot of Yeats, and a lot of the romantics. Brendan from United States Comment 18 of 20, added on April 6th, 2006 at 7:41 PM. To return the discussion to the serious--the Blonde in the last line does not imply courage---the Brave reference does that. In graduate school we discussed this poem at length and had one of the foremost cummings scholars in the country come in to have a seminar with us on his poetry. The Blonde is more of an implication of 1st generation immigration---Olaf here chasing the American dream in his adopted country, yet meeting the disaster described in the poem. Olaf being more directly pure--aligned to Aryan type roots than probably the same people who were torturing him, but whose blue eyes were handed down through several generations of mixing, and diluting the purity of their roots. I have never forgotten the seminar to this day, or those comments aobut the last line of Olaf. I wrote my thesis on cummings and spent 10 pages in this poem alone---one of his most vivid and powerful. Now And Then Books from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, i sing of Olaf glad and big, has received 20 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by e.e. cummings with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: e.e. cummings Poem: i sing of Olaf glad and big Last read: Jul 4 2009, 12:28AM Poem of the Day: Jul 15 2002 Viewed 26236 times. Added on April 6th, 2006 at 7:41 PM.

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