dying is fine)but Death
?o
baby
i
wouldn’t like
Death if Death
were
good:for
when(instead of stopping to think)you
begin to feel of it,dying
‘s miraculous
why?be
cause dying is
perfectly natural;perfectly
putting
it mildly lively(but
Death
is strictly
scientific
& artificial &
evil & legal)
we thank thee
god
almighty for dying
(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death
Death is the end, its final but dying is life. We understand dying but we dont understand death and because of that we fear death.
I like this poem lots more than the others by e.e cummings- it makes so much more sense!
The way I feel about the poem is that he talks about how death might be bad and unwelcoming but it is something from the day we are born, know it will come. So in that way it is something that we look towards. It talks about just beofore we die we feel it instead of thinking of it.
dying is fine but death o baby.
possibly the best line ever.
Cummings is discussing dying as a movement and a leaving of things, moment by moment by living people. Things you do when you are “not there” – like when you’re having fun but not thinking about it. Dying to disappointing and hurtful things, but with no “death” to it. Death closes doors. Dying opens them.
this poem is trying to say something about dying thats about all i got out of it!
It seems to me that Cummings is separating dying and death throught the Christian conception of life after dying through Jesus. I think that when he speaks of dying he is talking of the physical process we go through before the body dies. But, his conception of death seems to be the death of the spirit, or when we turn away from God, which is only final after the process of dying.
I don’t believe e.e. is trying to say how dying is superior to death. I believe the poem is half-ironic, and half-introspective. We fear our mortality, but we praise the process as noble. I think e.e. is reflecting on his own dilemma in this subject. How to deal with opposing views on dying and death. he is not telling, he is asking, or more likely pondering.
it is hard 2 understand!
i love this poem b/c he’s so right! death and dying are perceived completely different – or at least should be, is what i assume he’s saying. death is usally viewed very negatively, but dying, its a natural process we all go through, its still a part of life. but death is final, and i think the God reference reference has a lot to do w/ that comment, b/c Jesus (being interchangable w/ God) rose from the dead (death) – e.e. praises him for dying, not for his death.
E. E. Cumming has a audio recording read by author. This is wonderful.
i really like the poem. it gets me to think about this matter
live–don’t just exist. As long as you are breathing you have hope and at the point that you die you also have hope because of Jesus’ death. Also from the moment of birth we are all dying (ironic isn’t it?)
i think ee cummings is trying to justify death and dying in the sense that in the end of the poem he begins to glorify god for dying. He is setting a division between death and dying a looking at them from scientifical and ethical perspectives.
I Really dont understand the poem and it is weriod. And I Really dont like it
Cummings shows us the mastery of landuage and yet, withthe mastery, a certain breaking of the rules that leads into the insight we derive. It is in this piece especially that we can become clear of the several intents this poem holds. The surface and later, the inspiration shown in the deepest bowls of his work become apperant only through revelation and understanding of the man himself.
I think this poem is about a love of life and nature. It seems cummings sees life as a gift from God and death is to leave behind that gift. Yes it is legal, but its a crime because the world is so beautiful. It is obvious that cummings doesnt like science very much when he refers to death (negatively) as “scientific”. Death is when you have no pulse or brain activity. But dying is nature, not science.
in this poem ee shows us that dying is different to death. he paints the image in our minds that death is a legal crime but dying is normal and not a crime.this is hard to understand but after you have read through it a few times it becomes clear.
My dear wife of 42 years, Jean, passed away earlier this month. In a eulogy written by my brother Edward, he refers to this being my favorite ee cummings poem. My brother says, “cummings was right. Her spirit merely made its transition.”
Notice the difference between the present participle “dying” and the common noun “Death.” ee displays his tolerance for life with the use of the participle and his distance from life with the
‘scientific” Death. The poem takes on a prayer form at the end – a common ee device where he brings together contrary topics into a magical, yet logical phrase that does his thematic and rhetorical bidding