1.
2.
3.
4.
i thank You God for most this amazing by ee cummings
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
5.
6.
7.
8.
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
9.
10.
11.
12.
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
13.
(now the ears of my ears awake and
14.
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
Stanza 1
Thanks God for: Trees, ___,
Leaping greenly spirits: ancient ______ that spirits reside in _____.
"a blue true dream of sky": the ___ is very ____.
Word order: Line 1 - most is ______ before amazing, yes is placed at the end
of line 4
It shows he cannot find _____ to describe the beauty of ______.
Stanza 2
Brackets: shows this ______ is an aside
He was in a _________ state but has been ______ that is why he notices the
beautiful day.
It is as if the sun has just been ____, therefore he feels "life", "love", and
"_____".
Wings: suggests true _______
The world is described as a _________ place, it is gay(happy) a _____
happening.
Stanza 3
If you experienced such ______ you cannot _____ God.
God is ____________
_____ beings have been ______ from the no/nothing.
Life only gains _______ once you have been _____.
"merely" and "illimitably" are __________, shows higher status of God in
comparison with man's mere _________.
Human merely being = "a mere human being"
Stanza 4
Brackets: highly ________
Senses: hearing, seeing: ______ and God for the first ____.
This ____ is a 'joyous celebration of life".
Form
fourteen _____
rhyme scheme is _________
Not a Shakespearian ______
Progression of ________ in three quatrains
Ends off with a ______
I thank You God for most this amazing
By e.e. Cummings
Cummings did not conform to general rules of grammar, punctuation and syntax but he did
choose a formal structure for this poem. It is written in the form of a Shakespearian sonnet
although the rhythm is slightly different. One of the first things one notices in this poem is
that the day itself is seen as amazing and that natural phenomenon that we take for granted
are singled out and celebrated: the form of the trees suggested by the reference to their
leaping spirits and the colour of the sky was referred to as a blue true dream. His enthusiasm
for nature is evident in the first quatrain. The vibrant, positive diction conveys this. He even
goes so far as to state the affirmative as a clause that forms the climax of the fourth line
which is “Yes”. The celebration of creativity and the positive is carried through the poem and
we are left with the impression that he is celebrating nature and enjoying it with all his senses
simultaneously and constantly in new ways. He is reborn into his communication with the
earth and with nature and reaches new heights of awareness. Almost like a child experiencing
new things with a sense of wonder. Everything seems renewed because he is experiencing
them through rejuvenated senses which he declares in the couplet.
He struggles to express the extent of his sensual experiences. The breathless listing of his
senses in line 9 and 10 suggests this. You may note that he does not include smelling in the
list. He chooses to use breathing instead suggestive of life and living that’s encompassing the
sense of smell too. He glories in the stimulation of his senses and in the spirit of deep
gratitude he acknowledges that there must be a path or controlling force and this force cannot
be impersonal and leaves one in no doubt that the creator is unimaginatively great. By placing
words in unusual positions Cummings forces us to think about every image. We can take
nothing for granted and neither can we anticipate his descriptions. Each one demands our
attention. Examples of this are the phrase: “human merely being” in line 11, the use of “yes”
as an adjective and “no” as a noun . There is a breathlessness that is suggested by the lack of
pauses and the fact that there are few spaces even between the colons(:) and semi-colons(;).
This relates closely to the enthusiastic celebration of the poet. The respectful tone of the title
and first line of this poem is emphasized by the conventional use of the upper case letter in
God but the more unusual use of the upper case for the pronoun You. After the first line the
tone becomes more and more elated and fervent.
QUESTIONS
1. Give one word to describe the overall tone of this poem.
2. What idea do you think the poet is trying to convey by using "yes"in line 4 ?
3. Comment on the poet's use of brackets in stanzas two and four.
4. What do you think he means by "lifted from the no/ of all no thing" (Lines 10-11)?
5. Give one example of contrast used in the poem and comment on its effect.
SUGGESTEDANSWERS
1. Elation; enthusiasm; wonder etc
2. This is the most positive word he can find; he is so filled with amazement that he is at a loss to find
words to describe it
3. Stanzas Two and Four act as 'asides' in which the speaker tries to explain his personal
feelings and responses to the beauty he has witnessed.
4. He is referring to his state before recognising the wonder of nature/ the power of the Creator, a state
of nothingness/meaninglessness
5. "died" (line 5) and "alive" (line 5 ) are contrasted and they express the contrast in the
speaker from before he noticed the beauty of creation to after he has experienced its
wonder. (Also contrast in "illimitabiy" and "merely").
i thank You God for most this amazing day
cummings
e.e.
e.e.cummings was an extremely innovative poet.
Notice his individualistic use of language, his punctuation or lack thereof, and spacing (e.g. line
2: "day:for". Also line 10), his use of lower case, even in his name (but not in his signature), his
unusual grammar (adverbs used as adjectives) and his unorthodox sentence structure (in title
and especially in stanza 3).
Form: Shakespearean sonnet: 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet, although the rhyme isn't
always regular, and he doesn't stick to iambic pentameter.
R.S. Kennedy, a critic, said about cummings: "cummings is, in his general outlook on life,
an unabashed romantic. He affirms life wholeheartedly in all its multiplicity, but
especially in whatever is simple, natural, loving, individual, unique. Above all, he
emphasises feeling and emotion rather then thought or analysis. He is particularly hostile
to forces that promote conformity, group behaviour, imitation, artificiality."
See if you can find evidence of these qualities in this poem.
1.
How do the contrasting "i" and "You" in line 1 contribute to the meaning of the poem?
2.
The position of "most" in the first line can lead to 2 interpretations. Place it in
another position and explain how it changes the meaning.
3.
Write down 2 other words from the poem that can be linked with "infinite" in line 4.
These words describe ......... as opposed to ......... who is described as being .........
4.
Suggest a reason for the placing of "yes" at the end of stanza 1.
5.
What do you think the poet means when he says he is "alive again today"? (Stanza 2)
6.
What is the difference in interpretation between "birthday" and "birth day"? (Stanza 2)
7.
Look at "of life and love and wings" (stanza 2). Is this an anti-climax? Explain.
8.
Suggest a reason why the poet used parentheses in stanzas 2 and 4.
9.
10.
11.
12.
In stanza 3 why has "breathing" been included in the listing of the senses, when strictly
speaking it shouldn't be there?
Pick out 7 words from stanza 3 that make sense together and form the basic question
that cummings is posing to us.
Interpret this equation: nothing - no = (some)thing / being = human being.
What do you think he means by "the ears of my ears" and "the eyes of my eyes"?
i thank You God for most this amazing day
e.e.cummi
ngs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
You = God, bigger than man, i = man, himself, size / importance relevant to God
This most amazing day - excellent day / thank You most for above all
God man nothing; illimitably; unimaginable
Encompasses everything infinite and natural; he can't find a better, "bigger" word
Reborn spiritually, therefore he notices things in nature and vice versa
i. Day you're born on / ii. Birth of day, start of day - every day
Seems to be - expect nothing, but wings = freedom, elation, climbing high into the
sky, so climax
8.
Personal responses to nature
9.
Breathing = life force. If you're really alive, your senses are stimulated
10. How should any human being doubt You?
11. Take no out of nothing = something = human beings
12.
Very inner core of his being / in the depths of his being