)when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16) - A poem by e.e. cummings

e.e. cummings - )when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16)

)when what hugs stopping earth than silent is
more silent than more than much more is or
total sun oceaning than any this
tear jumping from each most least eye of star
   
and without was if minus and shall be
immeasurable happenless unnow
shuts more than open could that every tree
or than all life more death begins to grow
   
end's ending then these dolls of joy and grief
these recent memories of future dream
these perhaps who have lost their shadows if
which did not do the losing spectres mime
   
until out of merely not nothing comes
only one snowflake(and we speak our names

Added: on February 13th, 2006 at 11:31 AM | Viewed: 24051 times | Comments and analysis of )when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16) by e.e. cummings Comments (6)

)when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16) - Comments and Information
Poet: e.e. cummings Poem: )when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16) Comment 6 of 6, added on February 19th, 2007 at 5:34 PM. Though I don't think this poem was meant as a religious commentary either, it should be noted that Cummings was in fact very religious. His statement "And death i think is no parenthesis," in the context of the poem it is taken from, is, I think, simply a comment that one should live life to the fullest and focus on feeling instead of the strict rules of humanity because death is inevitable. It should not be taken as evidence that Cummings does not believe in an afterlife. Stephanie from United States Comment 5 of 6, added on April 28th, 2006 at 12:27 PM. The poet is expressing the cycle of life and death, but he is not merely reporting. There is an undercurrent of pathos that speaks to a forgetfulness of the unity of all. The light of Life, which imbues All -- "the total sun oceaning" -- is "more silent... than much more is." Is there a deeper Silence than this?! And if this immense silent 'void' -- the "immeasurable happenless unnow" -- was to "shut more than open," death would prevail over Life. The poet is merely pondering -- what if...? And yet he continues: Dolls are playthings, therefore, "joy and grief" are the mere games of shadowy entities who don't know who or what they really are (what is substance, what is shadow?). Until, out of the void of nothingness (which is "merely not nothing") shines the Oneness of Life -- the One snowflake: i.e., the prototypical Form of all subsequent expressions of Life. And the manifest and diverse expressions ("we speak our names"), which are rooted in the unity of the One, begin the cycle once again -- name and form are born. And this happens in the eternal Now -- gone are "memories of future" events. The uniqueness of the One is expressed in the many in an endless cycle ("end of endings"), beyond time and space, eternally. Brian Haley from Canada Comment 4 of 6, added on February 13th, 2006 at 11:31 AM. "Death i think is not a paranthesis" -E.E. Cummings That statement illustrates his hedonistic beliefs on life. Lacking a belief in an afterlife, evident in this statement, it is a logical conclusion to doubt he had any religious beliefs- especially on the topis concerning this poem. Jefferson Floyd More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, )when what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16), has received 6 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 what hugs stopping earth than silent is... (16) Last read: May 11 2008, 3:34PM Viewed 24051 times. Added on February 13th, 2006 at 11:31 AM.

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