when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22) - A poem by e.e. cummings

e.e. cummings - when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22)

when serpents bargain for the right to squirm
and the sun strikes to gain a living wage-
when thorns regard their roses with alarm
and rainbows are insured against old age

when every thrush may sing no new moon in
if all screech-owls have not okayed his voice
-and any wave signs on the dotted line
or else an ocean is compelled to close

when the oak begs permission of the birch
to make an acorn-valleys accuse their
mountains of having altitude-and march
denounces april as a saboteur

then we'll believe in that incredible
unanimal mankind(and not until)

Added: on April 7th, 2008 at 4:53 AM | Viewed: 10383 times | Comments and analysis of when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22) by e.e. cummings Comments (12)

when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22) - Comments and Information
Poet: e.e. cummings (e.e. cummings Art) Poem: when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22) Comment 12 of 12, added on September 9th, 2009 at 7:38 PM. It's quite simple. Live your life with good and gracious intentions. Then, when you die and go to heaven, all shall be revealed. Very simple. H. Blake McMichen from United States Comment 11 of 12, added on December 2nd, 2008 at 7:28 PM. This is the poem that made me fall in love with Cummings. And while many layers of meaning can certainly be found, I believe the core idea is elegantly simple. Until we observe in nature the absurd behaviors of man (which we won't), we cannot truly believe that man is anything but an animal (which at his heart, he is). Ryan Pierce from United States Comment 10 of 12, added on April 7th, 2008 at 4:53 AM. Two possibilities occurred to me after considering the lines and reading some of the comments. Either he wants to show the unnatural nature of human beings by ironically applying human deeds to the most natural elements, or he is trying to depict something beyond this; Cummings believes that human beings are currently animals (considering the negative aspects of animals, of which people often speak). If you have in mind his attempts to be anything but normal, Cummings seems to believe in the fact that the devaluation of nature and animals by human beings is not true. WE are the actual animals people are used to depreciate; WE are those to whom all the humiliating adjectives must be ascribed. So what cummings says is that if only everything changes upside down, we can be truly described as unanimal beings; that is, if nature acts as human beings and mankind acts as nature, the so-called nice descriptions of human beings, which are preached by people now and then, can be attributed to us. Dionysus (S. G.) from Iran More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22), has received 12 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: when serpents bargain for the right to squirm... (22) Last read: Dec 16 2009, 7:05AM Viewed 10383 times. Added on April 7th, 2008 at 4:53 AM.

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