i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
wich is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
The capitalization and lack of in the first line evoke humility in relation to God’s grandeur. The four sections of the poem bring me to 1) gratitude, 2) joy, 3) faith and 4) wisdom. When read during meditation, this poem can launch me into another dimension. Very nice.
I woke this morning thinking of this poem on this most amazing day.
I love how cummings expressed God without defining God.
It’s like a prayer — private, comforting, full of joy and gratitude.
Thank you e.e.
My husband and I chose this poem to be read at our wedding. It was an outdoor wedding by the water at a church camp we both attended as children. It was a beautiful spring day and it felt like we were living the poem in that moment.
This poem is so beautiful; it manages to express pure joy, pure gratitude. Brand New Day
My husband has designed a sweet, funky and whimsical studio for me next to our house. Looking for some inspirational words to be a part of the studio I remembered this beautiful, uplifting poem. We have re-created the first stanza as a 3-dimensional frieze of 8 inch letters to be installed under the roof line, wrapping all around the building. I hope ee enjoys it.
Being grateful can be seen as reestablishing the connectedness with our environment and ourselves. What are we without that connection?
This peom has a really vivid image of a brand new day. This poem can help you realize how lucky we are to wake up everyday with the sun in the sky and the wind in our face. The one thing that worries me is that we are destroying our earth and one day we will not be able to wake up to this dream.
Salam aleikum everyone,
This poem makes me soar. Every dawn after I pray I read a bit of Quran, and then this poem. This is maybe unorthodox but ee cummings really knew what he was talking about!
This poem is no doubt most lovely but it could also be considered most biblical. It reminds me of Romans 1:20
” For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
What I got from this poem was that e.e. cummings caught a glimpse of the Living God through creation, and it was a profound experience for him…evidence that pointed him to biblical truth.
I am going to become ordained as an Interfaith Minister in June 2005 through One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City. Each month this year we must develop a ceremony (baby blessing, seasonal ritual, marriage, civil union, memorial, funeral service). I did a Thanksgiving Service and the poem that immediately sprung to mind from my college days was this one. Rather than having a homily or talk on gratitude, I chose to read this poem, have people meditate on those things in the past year (whether joyful or sorrowful) that they were thankful for this year, share them, along with bread and sing. I couldn’t have done anything better to express the feeling of Thanksgiving than this poem. Thank you ee.
I am currently a senior in hour high school choir (Northwestern Troubadours, Northwestern High School, Rock Hill, SC) and we are currently in the process of learning and performing this song for competition and spring show. I discovered Eric Whitacre’s music only 3 years ago with his work Water Night. Since then I have been in love with his music, as his ability to paint this mental beautiful picture in your mind and help you FEEL and be a PART of the MUSIC. Then just this past fall i have come better to know the work of e.e. cummings. Both of the works themselves are almost beyond words; however, being a spiritual person i feel the best way to describe it is “God-inspired” in which case, is truly magnificent. I myself love the arts, especially music. I feel a world and life without music would be boring and pointless. I don’t know why I’m writing so much but I just found it amazing to see so many had done the piece that I’m currently working on with my fellow classmates. This ‘prayer’ serves as the perfect inspiration for me, and just the thought that I get to work on producing this beautiful piece of music for God and others, during 2nd block at school, makes me want to go to school. I agree with all of you, two thumbs up and three cheers for both Whitacre and cummings!!!
The artist John August Swanson uses the whole text of E.E.Cummings’ “i thank You God for this most amazing” as part of the content of a print artwork. John works with vibrant colors, often using about 50 prints of different colors for his works. I have a framed copy in my office, together with copies of the poem for this who want one.
A fine SSATTB musical setting was composed by Elliot Z. Levine of the Western Wind Ensemble. This snappy setting uses backbeats and interwoven voicings to communicate the mode and ideas of the poem. The tune sticks in your head. My choral group is performing it this spring. CD or score can be obtained from http://www.westernwind.org.
This is a most beautiful poem. I know of two recordings that are easy to find- one of the whitacre setting is found on the cd Eric Whitacre-Complete A Cappella works recorded by BYU Chamber choir.
The SSA Gwenyth Walker setting can be found here-
http://www.gwynethwalker.com/ithankyo.html
this poem has hung over my desk for over 14 years; it lifts my heart each time I read it, say it, think it. It is the “gift” I am giving to my dearest friends, on the eve of my moving across the country. Are the musical settings on tape or disk?
I’ve never had the privilage to sing this, but I do have a little story about this poem. In high school, every morning a different student was selected to read our morning prayer over the intercom. Each student was allowed to select their own prayer. Most students just went with the “common” prayers, but not me! I chose to read “i thank you God” by ee cummings. Boy, did I get weird looks afterwards. But this poem moved me; I so totally understood what he was saying. I guess to appreciate this as a prayer, one must be in touch with their spiritual side.
I have sang the SSA Gwyneth Walker arr. Its wonderful! I am looking to arrange the text myself.
There are actually at least 14 choral settings of this poem. In addition to Eric Whitacre’s setting, Gwyneth Walker’s and Lloyd Pfautsch’s are also frequently performed.
How funny, I was just listening to Eric Whitacre’s rendition of this poem. It’s so beautiful. It gets stuck in my head so often. I agree, Whitacre most definitely has done this poem justice. Three cheers for e. e. cummings and Eric Whitacre!
Mike, the SATB choir setting may have been an arrangement by Eric Whitacre. His music truly does the poetry justice. Like you, I start many days with the words to this poem in my mind. I had the privelege of singing the piece under the direction of Eric Whitacre himself, and all I can say is… e.e. cummings would surely be anazed at what has been done with his work.