next to of course
god america i
By E.E. Cummings
E.E. Cummings
• Edward Estin Cummings was born in
Massachusetts, USA on 14 October 1894 and
died in 1962.
• In the First World War he was a volunteer
ambulance driver, but was imprisoned for 3
1/2 months in a French concentration camp
when his letters home drew the attention of
the military censors.
• He is known as an avant-garde poet, well
known for experimenting with punctuation,
syntax and structure and playing with both
words and ideas.
• This poem was published in 1926 when antiwar sentiments where considered unpatriotic
and shocking.
next to of course god america i
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKp29Lury
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKbsy2snyQ
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• http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/
singlePoem.do?poemId=7158
What does this
suggest about the
speaker?
“next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn’s early my
Enjambmen
country ’tis of centuries come and go t
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
Where is this line
taken from?
Dismissive.
Undermines his
commitment.
Speaking so quickly he has mispronounced ‘golly’
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by
American
gorry
Slang –
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why?
why talk of beauty what could be more
beautiful
Powerful image of
death and battlethan these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring implies?
slaughter
What
they did not stop to think they died instead does this
last line
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”
suggest?
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
Overview:
‘next to of course god america i’ is a satirical poem.
The absence of punctuation and capitalisation
allows the reader to engage with the poem’s
ambiguity – what does the speaker actually intend
with his words? It is interesting that he chooses to
capitalise the pronoun ‘He’ as if placing the speaker
in a place of superiority or distance. He initially
appears to glorify America, although this is also
ambiguous as he tempers this with phrases such as
‘and so forth’. His oxymoronic description of the
soldiers as ‘heroic happy dead’ also leaves the
reader feeling ambivalent. In many ways one can
view this as a very modern poem, with many of the
criticisms Cummings levels at his country being as
relevant today as they were in the 1920s.
What criticisms are contained within the poem?
Jingoism
• Definition: extreme patriotism in the form of
aggressive foreign policy”
• It refers to the use of threats or actual force
against other countries in order to safeguard
national interests, and colloquially to excessive
bias in judging one’s own country as superior to
others – an extreme type of nationalism.
There is much talk about
'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'
they
mean a policy in pursuance of
which
Americans will with
resolution and
common sense insist upon
our rights
being respected by foreign
powers,
then we are 'jingoes'.
Theodore Roosevelt,
8th October, 1895
Endings
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
• Reflection...
* Who is 'He'?
What impression do we get of him?
* Is his speech rambling words?
Does the poet have a deeper purpose?
• Explain your ideas.
Interpreting the Text
There is much talk about
• Language
'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'
they the use of hyperbole, oxymorons
Think about
mean
policy in pursuance
of
andaalliteration.
What
effects do they achieve?
which
• Punctuation
Americans will with
and
Trackresolution
the punctuation
of the poem.
common sense insist upon
Is its use
significant? What about capital letters?
our rights
being respected by foreign
• Imagery
powers,
Find
the poet uses a simile and
thenwhere
we are 'jingoes'.
personificationin this poem. Why are these
images used?
Theodore Roosevelt,
8th October, 1895
Agree/disagree?
There
is much talk
about
1. Because
Cummings
capitalises
the H in 'He' but not the pronoun 'i', he
'jingoism'.
If by 'jingoism'
is placing
the speaker
and his personality at the centre of the poem.
they
2. Cummings leaves
out most of the punctuation so the reader can
meanwhere
a policyto
inpause
pursuance
of
choose
for humorous/ironic
effect.
which
3. The poem initially comes across as rambling and a little incoherent
will
with
but thisAmericans
effectively
emphasises
the internal conflict of the speaker.
resolution and
4. The use
of
rhyme and alliteration gives the poem an internal structure
common sense insist upon
that makes it seem to sound quite pleasant.
our rights
5. The glorification
of by
war
and the soldiers is a form of hyperbole as the
being respected
foreign
speaker doesn’t
seem to mean it; it is used for effect.
powers,
6. Without
Cummings'
use of oxymorons, the poem would lose its
then
we are 'jingoes'.
uncertainty as it could either be read as either patriotic or antiAmerican.
7. Not having a capital A for America in the Theodore
title confirmsRoosevelt,
that the poem
is not patriotic.
8th October, 1895
Questions
There is much talk about
'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'
they
mean a policy in pursuance of
which
Americans will with
resolution and
common sense insist upon
our rights
being respected by foreign
powers,
then we are 'jingoes'.
• 1. How can we tell the poet is mocking the
speaker?
• 2. How does the title of the poem relate to
the content?
• 3. How does the poet build up to an emotive
end?
• 4. What do you think the poet wants the
public to do?
• 5. Why has the poet used Theodore
extracts Roosevelt,
from well
October, 1895
known American patriotic 8th
songs?