since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
– the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for each other; then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem since feeling is first… (VII)

52 Comments

  1. Mikaela says:

    this is the most confusing poem i have ever ever read. well i have to answer an assload of questions for my english class and i cant find any answers….. i hate poetry=(

  2. DaKing says:

    I have been reading and teaching this poem for over 35 years. It is simply one of cummings most eloquent. The simplicity of it is the key – I would suggest that the poem need not be textually analysed (for s/he) who pays attention to the syntax of things will never wholly kiss you. Simply: love wholly and purely; live for the moment of love; for tomorrow we die (death is no parenthesis). Do not intellectualize love – live love – he was such a romantic 🙂

  3. N.H.B.B says:

    life’s not a paragraph: it’s not short and doesn’t have just one “phase” “feeling”…

    death i think so no parenthesis: death cannot be avoided/ignored…

    🙂

  4. Cynthia says:

    This is one of the best poems ive ever read aside from ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ i love the work of e.e. cummings. my fav line is “kisses are a better fate than wisdom” i wish he were still around today to keep putting out amazing poems like this but e.e. cummings will forever live on in his work that he so gratefully left behind

  5. Cynthia says:

    This is one of the best poems ive ever read aside from ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ i love the work of e.e. cummings. my fav line is “kisses are a better fate than wisdom” i wish he were still around today to keep putting out amazing poems like this but e.e. cummings will forever live on in his work that he so gratefully left behind

  6. Hannah says:

    My friend, theresa from United States. It is not a sonnet. Just had to point that out. A sonnet has 14 lines, and several other qualities, but the 14 lines is the major one. This poem has 16.

  7. cindycat101 says:

    i believe that this is one of e.e. cummings greatest poems aside from “anyone lives in a pretty how town” the way he writes is so unlike any other poet, its just amazing. i dont care what anyone says. this poem is pretty great!

  8. mary suthers says:

    Iqbal Mohammed is disqusting to write such a thing about this poem. It’s an okay poem about a man’s splendid love for a woman, that’s all.

  9. a says:

    I hate to break it to you… however, Mr. Cummings.. ahem.. how do I put this?? well, Cummings died in 1962.

  10. alessia and erica says:

    Dear mr cummings,
    my friend and i had to research a poem of yours
    and we found it very intresting. i would just like to
    say that i enjoy writing and reading poems…n this one i really liked! o and my friend erica said that she really liked it too!

  11. Kelsey says:

    since feeling is first
    who pays any attention
    to the syntax of things
    will never wholly kiss you;

    this is th best stanza. basically it’s telling you to live in the moment and don’t think about what you’re doing too much. which is 100% what i need to do. this is definately my favorite e e cummings poem.

  12. poke 72 says:

    when i read this poem for the very first time i felt so happy i just well shed tears of joy (i put this comment in lower case letters because that is what e.e. cummings did)

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