(will you teach a
wretch to live
straighter than a needle)

ask
her
ask
when
(ask and
ask
and ask
again and)ask a
brittle little
person fiddling
in
the
rain

(did you kiss
a girl with nipples
like pink thimbles)

ask
him
ask
who
(ask and
ask
and ask
ago and)ask a
simple
crazy
thing
singing
in the snow

– e. e. cummings

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem (will you teach a… (12)

5 Comments

  1. Irma Metherd says:

    The poem shapes itself like thimbles with nipples.

    e.e. cummins has the incredible quality of Walt Whitman, making a wordplay, nonseniscal, universal and personal.
    It is difficult to understand why he is not as appreciated and enjoyed more by the collegiate “popularity” crowds. To become like a child is a divine quality. so is cummins art.

  2. Fatma says:

    I would like to say that there is a graphological deviation.

  3. Sonia Perales says:

    *To me this poem does make sense, every one has different reactions to certain questions when been ask to one…especially if they happen to be personal.
    Like in this poem Cummings appears to be asking the reader a question as soon as you start reading…

    (will you teach a
    wretch to live
    straighter than a needle)

    in other words.. will you teach a slut to live a decent life?
    Now to some readers they might simply say no or yes…but others might be like what the F**k of a question is that? and why the F**k are you interested to know B***H! lol

    ask
    her
    ask
    when

    and now that Cummings asked you a personal question, he now wants one to know if she would let her self to be straighten up in life by some one else… and when would she be willing to stop being a wreck (or it could be another view as now you being the one to question instead of cummings doing the quesioning)…so now you will make the questionig to this woman…or slut..and of course she might get a bad reaction to your question. You would probably sound like this..
    Would you let me teach you to be more decent with your life?…lol damn for sure you’ll get a slap from her…
    and with the following part…

    (ask and
    ask
    and ask
    again and)

    it simply says to keep on being a nosey individual…

    ask a
    brittle little
    person fiddling
    in
    the
    rain

    (did you kiss
    a girl with nipples
    like pink thimbles)

    ask
    him
    ask
    who

    Now in this part it says ask an easily disrupted midget, which happends to be caught up in the rain, if he ever kissed a girl that had nipples that looked like pink thimbles?….lol now that’s weird….but some people might ask that just to see how a midget shows his rage lol j/k any who…that midget will most likely bite them nutz off…lol

    (ask and
    ask
    and ask
    ago and)ask a
    simple
    crazy
    thing
    singing
    in the snow

    and finally this last part… which is simply this—>Would you ask a crazy person anything? Period! Finito!
    Hellll Naaah!!! to all this weird questions…only crazy weird people singing in the snow will do those kind of questionings..lol
    IN other words this poem might mean either stop being nosey with the personal life’s of others…or Just simply get a life.

  4. Frank Schiff says:

    Like the Polish born French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, e.e. cummings understood and embraced the visual media of the era led by Charlie Chaplin and other silent movie stars.
    His words rely on simpleness, but his poem structure tells another message. I dare not say what the image looks like. Let’s keep it simple and enjoy the melodic beauty of the words woven letter by letter, stitch by stitch.

  5. Urest Burtnik says:

    A little crazy is the poem
    Supported upright in its actions
    Even though the solemn
    Thoughts were the attractions.

    Does this make sense?
    Neither does the crazy poem juat above
    Who can descipher its hidden meaning??

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