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maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea
im doin alevel dance aswell n coniderin this question. i love it n was the 1st thing that jumped out at me. theres summit twited about it but i cant figure out what. xx
maggie and milly and molly and may…. could they be four people or could they be just one person.
Another point, the names maggie and miller etc are never written in capital letters as they should do, so has Cummings wrote this poem from a childs point of view, an example of this is on stanza four when Cummings writes “and molly was chased by a horrible thing” Adults generally would’nt say this so was this poem written from a childs point of view.
Is this poem based on memories or lonliness?
As for music i have no idea, although myself and two other people have suggested a song by Norah Jones
This was probably no help to anybody but anyway happy dancing and good luck with the exam in April
hi,i am a dance student too and i am thinking about doing this question. But id like some more information on its backround, and what sort of music should i play? x
I really like the thought of doing this poem for as dance but would really appreciate a little background on it and some suggestions for some music as iam also finding this quite hard to find! thank you very much! jemima x
im studying this question 4 my AS dance but am really stuck on movements and action, weve been given some useful information about the poem, saying that there were a number of topics it could have been based upon. I want to ask what others feel it is based on as we have been told it’s about aliens, love/ sex, schkitophrenia, war or growing up and remembering loved ones that have passed on.
so plz could ppl tell me wot they think its bout as i dnt really no wot topic 2 chose
Thanx nicola
hya i have chosen the poem question as well and i am struggling on a piece of music to go with the poem i dont have a clue.my thoughts are that you will always stay friends with close ones but as long as your find yourslf with time alone such as thy go down to the beach together but have thier own adventures become themselves and showing thier difrent intrests.if any1 can help me with my problem please email me or sometihing.thank youxx
Heya, i am aother dance student making a solo to this poem and have spent hours trying to find inspiring yet practical music that relates to the poem. Ive heard that a song was actually composed about this poem but i cant get hold of it. I was jst wondering what other people’s music choices are like? Thanks for your help…
Hi, Yeh i am another AS dance student, and i really like the idea of choreographing a dance to this poem. I thought maybe that this poem has a number of people, for example sisters or close friends, all going on an adventure.. and where it says “may comes home with a smooth round stone” im thinking this person likes to keep memory to where she has been. I also feel that this poem is very relaxing and has a particular message for the reader.. but i am currently trying to find that out!! GD LUCK ALL THE AS DANCERS CHOOSING THIS QUESTION FOR THEIR EXAM PIECE xx
Youve probli guessed but I am also a dance AS student theres some realli great ideas here which are really helpful, does anybody know any websites for the other questions?…
Thanx and Good Luck…..
Hi. I am another AS student that is looking at this question for the final piece. My idea of the poem is that they could be all one person with different personalities or feelings. The beach is the most important thing. It’s a place to make new friends however it is a place where there are troubles.
Cheers for reading this.
Loz
i dont really like your poem.
does it even matter if i am typing it is not like you are going to read it anyways!!!!!
if you do type back send me a way better poem PLEASE!!!!!!!
This poem rocks my socks!
I just thought i’d share with you some of the ideas i have been looking at…
the star personality could involve a motif using the hand “five languid fingers” so the hand would be the focus point
Also Cummings experimented with Synta, which in this poem evidently creates a very strong rhythm!! so i have created a motif using that rhythm as the initial point…
Well, thats my input… hope it helps =)
Good luck y’all!!
Elodie
Hi, i just wanted to say how useful all these comments have been! I would like toknow if any of you know wether there are any other discussions going on on the other questions of the paper…
Many thanks!
Elodie.
again…an AS stunent! no surprise there.
the style of this poem is child like so the movements and motifs should represent that, but in the second half of the poem, the tone changes. it becomes more subdued and fearful. possibly showing a different aspect to her personality.
she seems connected to the sea in some way, saying that she goes there to find herself.
cheers for reading this. its only my opinion, theres probably a million different interprataitons of it…
like the last 10 comments i am also an as student of dance and studing the question i think that the girls are different personalites of one person and deal with different themes within the poem like childhood, loniness and the nusery style shows that going back to childhood can help you with your problems which is illustrated by the last two lines. the beach is a repersentative of the childhood and movement motifs could stat with beach play!
When I first looked at this question, I cried! But when I looked a little deeper, I came up with my own interpretation. I feel that the characters are just pretending that they are playing on the beach – a child-like game. The way the poem is written also suggests that it is meant to be read as if a child is telling a story without taking any breaths as ‘and’ is used to link every stanza!
hey i’m the same as everyone else i’m researching this poem for as dance, everyones comments have actually been helpful, but i think i might do the quote.
the idea of the whole four different personalities is brilliant and the way cummings refers to the beach because it is mainly everyones childhood memories. Can anyone think of a starting point for a motif because here i am totally lost? Thanks
i think th poem is about one woman who has diffrent moods and feelings and how she copes. the first (maggie) is her simple way of cope ing with stress and troubles. the seconed (milly)shows her frendly side and how she has no predudice. the 3rd (molly)shows how she is easily scared and runs from her problems and fears. the 4th (may) shows how no matter what she shows on the out side she allways feels alone and trapped as the sea is stopping her. the last bit to me means what eva we do or show on the outside within is very diffrent. thnx 4 reading xx