Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

E.E. Cummings' "Songs: 1" is a complex and richly textured poem that explores themes of love, memory, and the passage of time, all rendered in his characteristic experimental style. The poem is a lyrical meditation that blends imagery of nature with abstract concepts, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that invites deep contemplation.

The poem opens with a vow of praise: "thee will i praise between those rivers whose / white voices pass upon forgetting." Here, the speaker sets the stage in a timeless, almost mythical landscape, where rivers—symbols of time and memory—flow with "white voices," perhaps representing the fluidity of memory and the inevitable fading of experiences into oblivion. The phrase "fail me not" underscores the speaker's plea for constancy in a world where so much is ephemeral.

Cummings' use of nature imagery continues with "three willows wail, / a slender dimness in the unshapeful hour," evoking a scene of delicate mourning and uncertainty. The willows, often symbols of sorrow, add a melancholic tone, suggesting a moment of transition or loss. The "unshapeful hour" hints at a time when boundaries between past, present, and future blur, and the "tones of stroked flower" further the sense of gentle, poignant beauty.

The poem's first stanza also introduces the idea of love's urgency: "let not thy lust one threaded moment lose: / haste." This line reflects the speaker's desire to seize the moment, to fully embrace love and life before they slip away. The imagery of "shadowy sheep" floating "free upon terrific pastures pale" adds to the surreal, almost otherworldly atmosphere, where even the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

In the second stanza, the poem takes on a more introspective tone, as the speaker reflects on the shepherd, a figure who "lifts a cheek / teartroubled to the momentary wind." This shepherd, who guides "myriads wonderfully loved," becomes a symbol of someone who watches over and mourns for those who have passed, counting the souls with "condemnatory fingers thinned / of pity." The shepherd's dual role as both guardian and mourner reflects the tension between love and loss, protection and letting go.

The poem then delves into the metaphysical, with the speaker contemplating the "people of perfect darkness" who fill the shepherd's mind. These are the ghosts, the lost souls who whisper in the night, lamenting their lost chastity and the burden of their immortality. The line "and still to be immortal is our doom" suggests that eternal life, far from being a blessing, is a curse—a never-ending existence filled with longing and sorrow.

The final stanzas of the poem return to the theme of love, as the speaker urges their beloved to "be with me: unseriously seem / by the perusing greenness of thy thought / my golden soul fabulously to glue." This plea for connection is couched in the language of mythology and alchemy, as the speaker imagines their soul being bound to their lover's in a union of "superior terror." The "sinless taint" of the beloved's arms—paradoxical in its phrasing—suggests a love that is pure yet marked by the experiences and transgressions of life.

Cummings concludes with an invocation of the sacred and the sensual: "be with me in the sacred witchery / of almostness which May makes follow soon / on the sweet heels of passed afterday." The "sacred witchery" speaks to the magic of anticipation and the fleeting nature of moments that are on the cusp of happening, encapsulated in the transition from day to night, or from one season to another. The imagery of "petals falling silently" and "huge trees drenched by a rounding moon" evokes a sense of reverence for the natural world and the profound, almost mystical, experiences it can inspire.

"Songs: 1" is a deeply evocative poem that blends sensuality, spirituality, and introspection in a way that is quintessentially Cummings. The poem invites the reader to linger over its rich imagery and to ponder the interplay of love, time, and memory in the unfolding tapestry of life. Through his innovative use of language and form, Cummings captures the essence of fleeting beauty and the poignant awareness of its impermanence, creating a work that resonates with both wonder and melancholy.

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