Tuesday, December 18, 2007

i carry your heart with me, by e.e. cummings


i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)


[Another cummings poem to compensate for my inadequacy. Art by Matisse.]

17 comments:

Steve H said...

aside from being a big fan of your writing i am also a big fan of cummings (and probably a big reason that i always use these)))))

Jaye Wells said...

You're making me a fan of cummings. I was already a Matisse fangirl.

Sarah Hina said...

(((((me, too))))), hotwire ;)


I'm a cummings missionary, Jaye. I will convert everyone.

Anonymous said...

I can learn from Cummings.

I find myself shocked at how straightforward the verses are. I want to squeeze them down and make them mysterious and harder to reach. A curious thing now that I think about it. Some food for self-analytical thought.

Maybe it's because I feel the world expand in the darkness, and shrink in the light.

Aine said...

I love the use of simplicity to depict the deepest, most complex truths. I have always seen love this way (Jason, if you're looking for your heart... it's over here.) ;)

I wonder what age e.e. cummings was when he wrote this. Do you know any of his personal story, Sarah?

WH said...

Anotjer wonderful cummings poem, Sarah. I especially like the moon and sun allusions.

Sarah Hina said...

Jason, it's strange, because although I have admired Cummings for years, I have never been very good about gutting my own writing, and achieving this kind of purity. Maybe that's why I've turned more to poetry lately. It's hard to be this childlike in prose.

Something about his repetition here really moves me. You cannot reach deeper than the root of the root. Someone's heart could only be carried in your own.

Aine, I just looked it up, and I think he was in his sixties when he wrote this. It was published in "95 poems," which was printed just a few years before his death.

I love that he maintained this romanticism throughout his life.

Billy, this is one of my favorites. We have his entire collection, and I found some new gems the other night.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Lovely poem. That really spoke to me!

Scott said...

It doesn't do much for me. See, I told you I wasn't much into poetry. I wouldn't be intimidated if I were you, Sarah.

Sarah Hina said...

Ello, I'm glad you felt it, too.

Scott, it's not so much that I'm intimidated by Cummings, as in awe. I think his clarity is something to aspire to.

Of course, we all have different preferences, which is as it should be. But I'll just say this (I told you I was a missionary!): read it aloud. It can make a difference.

:)

Anonymous said...

You are NOT inadequate, not by any stretch of the imagination, but thanks for sharing this poem with us all. The Matisse suits it perfectly.

Chris Eldin said...

I am so grateful for these posts.

I wrote somewhere (maybe it was on Charles' blog) that I struggle with symbolism. Cummings' straight-forward style is for me. I simply love it.

And I have been a fan of Matisse for years. Perfect painting!!

Sarah Hina said...

Thank you, easywriter! I thought Matisse's cut-out married this poem nicely. :)

I'm so glad you're as intoxicated with him as I, CL! Symbolism certainly has its place, but sometimes the words can stand alone, and naked.

;)

Anonymous said...

So much my thing.

Sarah Hina said...

me too, Wayne.

Anonymous said...

Tal como dijo E.E Cumings "Llevo tu corazón conmigo, lo llevo en mi corazón..." mientras eso ocurra, nunca existirá el olvido...
Aunque de todas maneras es imposible olvidar aquello que esta siempre en nuestros pensamientos.

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