O sweet spontaneous... e.e. cummings

ω

RT has been a fan of e.e. cumming’s work ever since he first read it in 9th grade; it might not be going too far to say that this was the moment when RT realized he was a poet. And without doubt, RT’s style has been deeply influenced by cummings. It is perhaps a cliche, but nonetheless worth pointing out, that cummings was a formalist who liked to play with form; some of his pieces are sonnets that have been typographically rearranged. At the same time, the intensity of cumming’s lyric voice places him firmly with the moderns–his genius transcends genre.

So, who better to celebrate the gates of spring than this impish author? Here is one of his best.   RT

ω

O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the doting

               fingers of
prurient philosophies pinched
and
poked

thee
has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy

      beauty        how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy
knees squeezing and

buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
       but
true

to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover

       thou answerest

them only with

                     spring

ω

Painting: A leaf from the album “Flowers” by Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884). This album was completed in the 9th year of the Xiangfeng reign (1859). Shanghai Museum. User: Inductiveload. WikiCmns. Public Domain.

*

About these ads