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Poet: e.e. cummings
Poem: Jehovah buried,Satan dead,
Comment 17 of 17, added on May 12th, 2007 at 8:14 AM.
I see the poem as an attack on the formalities and rules of Christianity. Cummings starts by saying "Jehovah buried, Satan dead", meaning we must rely on ourselves for our answers. Without divine guidance people get afraid and worship any and everything they can ("Much and Quick"). The rest of the first section is questioning how little power over our lives we have. Joy and Pain (heaven and hell) hang in hock, waiting to be sold to us by our religious leaders. With so little control who dares to call himself a man?
The second section starts with "go dreamless knaves on shadows fed" which refers to the "fearers" of the previous section who feed their fears with shadows. They also dull their senses with machines or "gadgets" that "murder squawk and add" (guns, tvs, and calculators). This leads them to conform with the "cult of Same". This leads them to hate those who do not join with them in their cult (turns Jew into kike). Agian how dow these people call themselves men?
The same people from stanza two are talked about in stanza three by calling them liars and slaves. They seek truth and freedom but all they aer willing to do is click their heels and wish. Cummings also brings up the puritanical views christianity has on the femail form, but at the same time his choice of the word "Boobs" points out the silliness of it. "when Souls are outlawed, Hearts are sick," is not a call for more religion in society, it is a call for less strict spirituality. You have to remember that Cummings was a Unitarian, which is far less restrictive in how you behave and worship. To him strict religious rules outlaw personal choice, and make you deeny who you are in soul, heart and mind. This all leaves you fully conformed into your religious team, and set to hate other teams ("Hate's a game"). How love is nothing more than procreation to build up your team. Back comes the question that mocks this empty, choiceless live. Who dares to call himself a man?
The final stanza finishes the poem with a satirical stab at the people described above. He refers Christ as a King, a powerful parent figure who is supposed to fix all our problems. Unitarians believe in a singular god instead of the Trinity, and do not believe in the divinity of Jesus. This makes the King title all the more telling. Also notice that the last line doesn't have a question mark. This is because it is part of the previous line and not a question. In the "and waves wich only He may walk" line Cummings isn't referring to Christ, he is referring to someone who dares to call himself a man. So the only person able to get over the metaphorical waves are people who are willing to think for themselves.
Brandon from United States
Comment 16 of 17, added on May 12th, 2007 at 8:07 AM.
There are two different forms of this poems that I have read. The one already posted (I'll call that p1) and the one I prefer (called p2). The first difference is that in p2 the the word “hand” is changed to “hang” in the “if Joy with Pain shall hang in hock” line from the first section. To me this make more sense and clears up the meaning of the poem. The other difference is that in p2 the line “their heels for Freedom slaves will click;” is added after the “loudly for Truth have liars pled,” line. That added line is why I think p2 is the correct version, because it make the line count 8, 8, 8, 4 instead of 8, 8, 7, 4.
Brandon Perdue from United States
Comment 15 of 17, added on April 8th, 2007 at 9:27 PM.
He uses all lower cases in this poem. That shows his irreeverence for God. God with a small g would be the Unitarian god. His dad was a Unitarian minister. Jesus is not God and our savior in unitarianism. So I'm having trouble seeing this poem as being in favor of spirituality.
Nathan Thoune from United States
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Comments
I see the poem as an attack on the formalities and rules of Christianity. Cummings starts by saying "Jehovah buried, Satan dead", meaning we must rely on ourselves for our answers. Without divine guidance people get afraid and worship any and everything they can ("Much and Quick"). The rest of the first section is questioning how little power over our lives we have. Joy and Pain (heaven and hell) hang in hock, waiting to be sold to us by our religious leaders. With so little control who dares to call himself a man?
The second section starts with "go dreamless knaves on shadows fed" which refers to the "fearers" of the previous section who feed their fears with shadows. They also dull their senses with machines or "gadgets" that "murder squawk and add" (guns, tvs, and calculators). This leads them to conform with the "cult of Same". This leads them to hate those who do not join with them in their cult (turns Jew into kike). Agian how dow these people call themselves men?
The same people from stanza two are talked about in stanza three by calling them liars and slaves. They seek truth and freedom but all they aer willing to do is click their heels and wish. Cummings also brings up the puritanical views christianity has on the femail form, but at the same time his choice of the word "Boobs" points out the silliness of it. "when Souls are outlawed, Hearts are sick," is not a call for more religion in society, it is a call for less strict spirituality. You have to remember that Cummings was a Unitarian, which is far less restrictive in how you behave and worship. To him strict religious rules outlaw personal choice, and make you deeny who you are in soul, heart and mind. This all leaves you fully conformed into your religious team, and set to hate other teams ("Hate's a game"). How love is nothing more than procreation to build up your team. Back comes the question that mocks this empty, choiceless live. Who dares to call himself a man?
The final stanza finishes the poem with a satirical stab at the people described above. He refers Christ as a King, a powerful parent figure who is supposed to fix all our problems. Unitarians believe in a singular god instead of the Trinity, and do not believe in the divinity of Jesus. This makes the King title all the more telling. Also notice that the last line doesn't have a question mark. This is because it is part of the previous line and not a question. In the "and waves wich only He may walk" line Cummings isn't referring to Christ, he is referring to someone who dares to call himself a man. So the only person able to get over the metaphorical waves are people who are willing to think for themselves.
Brandon from United States