!blac
k
agains
t

(whi)

te sky
?t
rees whic
h fr

om droppe

d
,
le
af

a:;go

e
s wh
IrlI
n

.g

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem !blac… (1)

15 Comments

  1. Anna C. Adams says:

    I would divide the poem into two parts:
    “Black against white sky” – part A
    “Trees which from dropped leaf a goes whirling” – part B
    Part A presents the reader with a conflict: black against white.
    Part B depicts an image of a falling leaf.
    At first I saw no connection between the two parts, but on second thought the connection or relation between the two parts can be cause (part A) and effect (part B).
    One might compare the conflict between black and white as a racial conflict, or a religious conflict, or as a social class’s conflict, or any other juxtaposing conflict. Thus, a conflict brings upon a result, in most cases, a negative one. In the poem the result is a falling leaf. I got the feeling of a negative result due to the technique used in the poem of dropping the last letter of the word to the following line. This technique conveys the feeling of something breaking, missing, falling apart and leaving almost nothing, like a tree that looses all its leaves and is left bare and vulnerable to the elements. Looking at part A as a racial conflict the result might be a broken society, and divided apart. History would prove the point that religious conflicts brought the result of chaos and destruction upon society like the bare tree in the poem.
    Despite the fact that the poem is short it enfolds within it more than a few aspects. Looking at the poem, not even reading it first, you clearly see that it is written in a unique form. I choose to emphasize this feature. The poem is laid out in a form that illustrates its message – a falling leaf.
    There is a lot to learn and conclude from this poem. However I would expect my student to think, wonder, and ask questions. They may come up with their own thoughts and conclusions before I may share mine with them. One of the things I learned from this short poem is that you don’t necessarily need a lot of words in order to achieve something or to convey a message: say a little but do a lot!
    Poetry is an art. Unlike a painter that works with a brush and paint, a poet works with words. The poem “blac” is an outstanding example of this statement. Cummings used an interesting form in the poem that intertwines beautifully with its message. That is what I call the art of words.

  2. JuiCy says:

    this poem is so sick, i love EE Cummings poems like this, like Dreamingly and the one about the grasshopper. love it.

  3. Vanisabethssa says:

    !blac
    w(as

    wo
    n
    de)
    rfu

    l,

  4. alvin says:

    what the hell is this is this how he wrote the poem of was it just typed wrong.

  5. Lauren says:

    I really didn’t understand what this poem meant but i do like the way the poet layed it out. It is a very interesting poem.

  6. ashley says:

    what if he was just talking about a falling leaf. isn’t that meaning enough

  7. francesca says:

    One of the most interesting things of the poem is that the article “a”, referred to the leaf, is placed after the noun to which it is referred, and brought near the first two letters of “goes”. This peculiar position suggests the possibility of reading “ago”, which shifts the time in an indefinite past.

  8. Eddie says:

    Not weird at all!!!!!!!!!
    1) The arrange of the poem is the movement of a leaf falling from the tree.
    2) It’s using a “haiku” technic, the image of the silhouette of a dark tree against a white cloudy sky. And a leaf drops to the ground.
    Very compelling.

  9. Na says:

    I believe that he is saying that blacks are against the white ways which is like a subject that keeps going around for ever.

  10. Steph says:

    I believe the poem is arranged in the order that it is in order to illustrate a leaf falling. 🙂

  11. daniel says:

    the poem is not weird or something! you have to arrange the words first before you can know its meaning!a black leaf which dropped from trees goes whirling against the white sky!analyze it!

  12. Jimmy says:

    This is what I believe the poem is actually saying. The letters are just arranged in a wierd order.

    “Black against white sky, trees which from dropped leaf a goes whirling”

  13. jess says:

    what is cummings saying? that from black trees, wild leaves drop? does wild loneliness fall from nothingness? or is it darkness?

  14. Maggie says:

    This is definitely e.e. cummings’ weirdest poem! and that is saying something!!!!!!

  15. bridget and josh says:

    REALLY WIERD

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