91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
A FOREGROUNDING ANALYSIS OF
E.E.CUMMING'S
" next to of course god america i"
PRESENTED BY
DR. SARAB KHALEIL ALAZAWI
UNIVERSITY OF BAGHDAD
ABSTRACT
E. E. Cummings (1894-1962) , poet and painter, was the
representative of American modern experimental poets. He reflected the
harmony of poems and paintings in his works, chewing the conventional
rhymes and syntactic structure of poems and even rejecting to transfer
information and emotion in the way of conventional printing. In other
words, He has his own method of writing poetry and has special
peculiarities in handling language in his own way .
It is hypothesized that Cumming's trend of writing is unique and this
is shown through his usage of foregrounding through all the levels of
language. This paper aims at showing how Cummings uses all types of
foregrounding to elevate the theme of his poem "next to of course god
america I"
INTRODUCTION
E. E. Cummings
(1894-1962) was born and brought up in
Cambridge Massachusetts, and is remembered above all for his startling
innovations in syntax and typography The term „foregrounding‟ is
borrowed by stylisticians from art criticism, which distinguishes between
the foreground and the background of a painting. The theory of
foregrounding is probably the most important theory within Stylistic
Analysis, and foregrounding analysis is arguably the most important part
of the stylistic analysis in poetry.
Theoretical Background
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
Foregrounding
Jan Mukarovsky, one of the leading exponents of the prague
linguistic circle, was the first to postulate the concept of
foregrounding . in his famous article "standard language and poetic
language", he (1970:43) states.
Foregrounding is the opposite of automatization, that is the
deautomatization of an act, the more an act is automatized the less
consciously executed; the more it is foregrounded the more
completely conscious does it become.
Automatization refers to the common use of linguistic
devices which does not attract particular attention by the language
decoder, for example, the use of discourse markers (e.g. well, you
know, sort of, kind of) in spontaneous spoken conversations.
Automatization thus correlates with the usual background pattern,
or the norm, in language use—it encompasses those forms and
structures that competent language users expect to be used in a
given context of situation.
Foregrounded linguistic devices, on the other hand, are usually not
expected to be used in a specific context and are thus considered
conspicuous—they catch the language decoder‟s attention (e.g. the
use of old-fashioned and/or very formal words such as epicure,
improvident, and whither in spontaneous spoken conversations).
Foregrounding thus captures deviations
from the norm. It is obvious that what is considered as automatized
and foregrounded language use depends on the communication
situation at hand. In technical fields of discourse, for instance,
specialized vocabulary items tend to be automatized (e.g. lambda
marker in molecular biology), but in everyday communication
become
foregrounded
devices.
Objectively
speaking:
automatization schematizes an event. Foregrounding means the
violation of the scheme.
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
Mukarovsky (ibid. :42) further specifies what he means by
the scheme in the usage of poetic language as follows :
For poetry, the standard language is the background against which
is reflected the esthetically intentional distortion of the linguistic
components of the work, in other words, the intentional violation of
the norm of the standard.
So, according to Mukarovsky, rhyme, repetition, archaic and
foreign words de-automatize the standard language and mark the
language as literary. But since those features are considered part of
the conventions of poetic language, the poet always tries to find a
way for violating those conventions. And the purpose of the poet's
violation can be stated as follows :
In studying poetic speech in its phonetic and lexical structure as
well as in its characteristic distribution of words and in the
characteristic thought structures compounded from the words, we
find everywhere the artistic trademark—that is, we find material
obviously created to remove the automatism of perception; the
author's purpose is to created the vision which results from that
deautomatized perception. (Shyklovsky; 1988:27)
What shyklovsky is saying is that through habit and
habituation and the constant use of language, language loses its
beauty and suitability for being a poetic medium and becomes
automatized. For instance, when Robert Burns first introduced 'my
love is like a red red rose', it was considered a novel metaphor.
Nowadays no poet would use this metaphor because it has lost its
force (traugott &pratt, 1980:32). In other words, the poet must
strive to de-automatize his language for "the poet is nothing if not
creative, and since language is his medium, one might well ask how
he could be creative without using language in some sense
creatively."(leech, 1969:23).
Leech (ibid. :24) further specifies how the poet may use
his language creatively; he does, according to leech, (a)if he makes
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
original use of the established possibilities of the language; and (b)
if he actually goes beyond those possibilities, that is, if he creates
new communicative possibilities which are not already in the
language . Linguistic creativity in either of these senses may be
paraphrased by 'inventiveness' or 'originality'. And in considering
the following statements given by leech (ibid.):
1. The polar bears of the arctic ice-cap have recently
taken to wearing false eyelashes as a protection against snow
blindness.
2. Eins within a space and a weary wide space it
wast ere wohned a mookse.
'inventiveness' emerges when the writer makes up sentences
according to the rules of his language yet never heard before as in
the unlikelihood event of the first sentence; while originality may
be found when the writer breaks the rules of his language so
markedly as in the second sentence. In short, we may say that
'inventiveness' means a deviation in meaning from the norm, while
'originality' means 'ungrammaticality'. And both types of creativity
are considered foregrounding as long as they contribute to the
meaning of the literary text used by a certain writer. Or, as leech
(1970:121) puts it, "foregrounding is the motivated deviation from
linguistic or other socially accepted norm." .Thus it may be said
that foregrounding is realized by linguistic deviation and linguistic
parallelism. Leech divides deviation into different types and the
most important ones are: lexical deviation, grammatical deviation,
phonological deviation, graphological deviation, and
semantic
deviation. The realization of those types through the levels of
language can be shown through the following Diagram:
Language
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
Substance
Form
(Phonetics & phonology) (Graphology)
Deviation
meaning
Grammar Lexis Semantics
Overregularity
Figure (1) The realization of Foregrounding
Figure (1) illustrates that the linguistic deviation and
overregularity produce foregrounding. Linguistic deviation consists
of lexical deviation, grammatical deviation, phonological deviation,
graphological deviation and deviation of meaning. Linguistic
overregularity includes phonological overregularity, lexical
overregularity and grammatical overregularity, in which
phonological overregularity consists of phonemic patterning and
rhythmic patterning; lexical overregularity refers to lexical
repetition; grammatical overregularity can be further divided into
repetition and parallelism. So the poet may permeates his creativity
through all the level of languages. The analysis of the poem will
done through all the levels of language where foregrounding has
been manipulated to show the hidden message of the writer.
Analysis of the Poem
next to of course god america i
1. "next to of course god america I
a
2. love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh b
3. say can you see by the dawn's early my a
4. country 'tis of centuries come and go b
5. and are no more what of it we should worry
c
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
6. in every language even deafanddumb d
7. thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gory
c
8. by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
d
9. why talk of beauty what could be more beaut- e
10. iful than these heroic happy dead
f
11. who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter e
12. they did not stop to think they died instead
f
13. then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
e
14. He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
The General meaning of the poem
The poem "next to god america i " by E.E Cummings is a poem
about patriotism, glory and America. The speaker is either one of
the three: a politician, a soldier or a drunken patriot. The first two
lines,
next to of course, god, america i
and love you land of the pilgrims and so forth oh
explains that the speaker, next to God loves America and
discusses a brief history of his country using the pilgrim as
reference to the puritan settlers of Plymouth colony1 .
The third line, say can you see by the dawns early my is taken
from another poem called The Star-spangled Banner2, which
suggests the patriotic message conveyed by the speaker.
The fourth line, country is for centuries come and go describes
that America underwent changes with the passing of time. These
four lines form the first quatrain of the sonnet which in general is
1 One of the two colonies of England settlers before there was an American
Nation.
2This poem is the American national anthem which was written by Francis
Scott Keys(---) during the war
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
about the speaker's discussion of his patriotism by expressing the
hierarchy of his love's priorities: Love God First, then second
America before finally loving yourself. It also discusses a concise
history of America and what it is now a changing country.
Following the first quatrain, is the fifth line, and are no more what
of it we should worry. Starting with the additive conjunction and
explains that the past overshadows America as existence.
The sixth and seventh lines,
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gory
explains that in every language even those heard by the deaf and
used by the dumb it is understood that the sons of America are“ its
soldiers acclaim glory for their country through war. And the
seventh line by jingo by gee by gosh by guma is jargons and
expressions of soldiers during combat.
Lines five to eight forms the second quatrain of the sonnet,
which the speaker talks about war, the soldiers and their
demonstration of their patriotism for their country.
The ninth line, Why talk of beauty what could be more
beaut, . The line stopped abruptly in beaut- to accommodate the
rules of the sonnet form; Cummings is playing with words. The
tenth line, iful than these heroic happy dead pertains to the soldiers
mentioned in the second quatrain who died heroically happy.
The eleventh line, who rushed like lions to the roaring
slaughter, explains that the lion rushed to the roaring slaughter,
regardless; this pertains to the dead mentioned in the previous line.
The twelfth line, they did not stop to think they died instead
explains that the dead mentioned in line ten, kept on going until
they died. Lines nine to twelve forms the third quatrain of the
sonnet, which the speaker talks about the fallen soldiers during war,
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
which for the speaker, is the most beautiful thing to talk about
because of their bravery and sacrifice.
The thirteenth line, then shall the voice of liberty be mute? In
This line , the poet asks the audience if by now, the voice of liberty
is mute. The final line, He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of
water explains that the speaker drank a glass of water, rapidly as if
he is tired from delivering the speech. Ultimately, the poem is
about war, patriotism and sacrifice .
Types of Foregrounding Used in the Poem
Phonological and Graphological Foregrounding
Cummings used a sonnet as a platform for his poem. This in
turn, elevates the poem as poetry of love “the speaker's love of
country". One may get the feeling of the patriotism of the speaker
embodied through the use of this type of genre. In other words, E.E
Cummings wrote the poem specifically in sonnet form so that he
could emphasize the satire and mockery within the content because
sonnets are mostly used for love poems.
The lack of punctuation marks with the exception of a single
period, question mark and quotation marks from line one to thirteen
pertains that the speaker is somewhat delivering a speech without
restraint of words “ spontaneous". Cummings leaves out all
punctuation except the question mark at the end. I think he does this
just to make the poem incomprehensible the first time it is read. He
makes the last line comprehensible so that the reader will think that
maybe the poem might make sense. He gives his opinion as straight
forward as the character in his poem can. The reader finds out who
the speaker is in the last line. In other words, the absence of
punctuation delivers a sense of rushness and excitement of the
speaker to spontaneously express himself until line fourteen, when
he drank a glass of water. You get to feel how it drains you as well
if you read it aloud. This in turn describes the mood of the speaker
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
as if he is gullible to talk about his patriotism and love for Country
Next to God.
Analyzing the poem, one may understand that this poem is not
really about patriotism, but more rather, a satire; and this is clearly
shown through the use of a new satirical device...namely the use of
allusive quotations or fragments of quotations, a technique that he
learned from T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. But unlike Eliot or Pound
he does not employ this technique for general cultural criticism,
rather, he aims to produce real laughter by ridiculing his
subjects(Kennedy ;1994:71) In [this poem], carefully worked out in
sonnet form, he pillories a Fourth-of-July speechmaker by choosing
patriotic and religious clichés common to platform oratory and
compressing fragments of them together in order to demonstrate by
this jumble the meaningless emptiness that these appeals
have(ibid.)
Lexical Foregrounding
Cummings is very straightforward in this poem. He doesn‟t blind
the reader with emotional interference but still he glorifies the
country. Instead, he blasts the reader with a seemingly meaningless
jumble of words. He does so just to engage the reader, capture his
or her attention, and force his or her brain to begin to think. It is
undoubtedly the most clever interpretation is that he is comparing
america to a gladiator arena in ancient Rome.... in fact, words such
as "by gorry, by jingo by gee by gosh by gum" come from Latin
roots of the word that roughly means "toy with the opponent" and
chants that Romans yelled when they disagreed with the final
decision. This is fitting since .E.E Cummings was conveying the
distress during that in American history
One more important lexical deviation occures with the
successive adjectives that describe the dead in line 10 “heroic
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
happy dead,” Cumming‟s praises the country for being glorious,
but he almost criticizes the soldiers who rush headlong into war to
defend it. He says they think not of honoring their country by any
means but through war and death. I think he is hinting at other,
more peaceful ways to serve America. He doesn‟t put down the
soldiers because he calls them “heroic happy dead,” he is just
saying they need to think straighter and more realistically.
Cummings is questioning the way we interpret patriotism and what
we consider it to be.
Syntactic Foregrounding
The adverb "rapidly" in line 14 occurs in a most unlikely
position in this sentence .If we eliminate the necessity for rhyming
the final word of the poem with the final word of line eleven
("slaughter"), since clearly the necessary rhyme could have been
achieved without inverting the syntax ("And rapidly drank a glass
of water"), then Cummings must have had some other reason for
the inverted syntax. In sonnet in which he has combined two forms
[the Italian and English], and in a poem which expresses a theme of
"inverted" or confused philosophy, Cummings, as persona, inverts
his apparently objective commentary on the situation and the words
in which he reports his commentary. In short then, this syntactical
inversion here at the end of the poem serves to indicate the similar
transformation of the sonnet form which Cummings has effected in
terms of form and further serves to point to the "inverted"
philosophy of the speaker of lines one through
thirteen.(Davis;1970:15).
Semantic Forgrounding
The poem is multi layered by metaphors and symbols .E.E
Cummings used these devices in creating a sonnet that at first
glance, pertains to patriotism. But within layers and layers of
symbols and metaphors, he concealed a beautiful poetry of protest,
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
a satire of patriotism, American Politics and Imperialism; the lives
are shattered by these three concepts and how it is exercised for the
sake of national interests and love of country, America.
it is clearly a poem about hidden rhetorics and lost meaning of
liberty. Politicians use this tactic often and E.E. Cummings is
satirically mocking them while simultaneously confusing the
readers to a point of making them think there is a deep meaning
behind what is behind said when there really isn't. Gullibility of the
public is a scary and powerful thing. Simply the poet expresses his
deep love to his country. However, the poet became unbalanced and
lost concentration due to the acts of politicians who distorts
America's democracy and love of freedom. He seems to be given a
political speech criticizing those who launches war that is
unnecessary for the country. He got tired and thirsty and thus
needed a drink.
The meaning of the title"next to of course god america " means
the hierarchy of importance of an American, that next to God, is
America, and next to America is yourself your individuality. But
because all of them are in lowercase, it connotes the idea that
regardless of hierarchy, these three should be on equal terms with
your values and morals, and neither one of them should overlap or
overshadow each other.
One could also argue that he is making a sarcastic reply to one
of the politicians. Because Cummings capitalizes the “H” in he in
line 14 and not the “I” in i, in line 1 .Cummings is forcing the
reader to focus equally on the guy‟s character and what he says. By
capitalizing the He .and not doing the same thing with i america
and even god , he wants to reflect the inner feelings of the politician
who believes himself better than God , America ,and other human
beings .Naturally, we tend to focus more on what the meaning is in
writing than the composition and character of the speaker. It is very
contrasting in of itself.
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
At the end, it says “He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of
water.” This makes it clearer who the speaker actually is. Because
he spoke rapidly and drank a glass of water, he has got more to say.
Who else but politicians talk rapidly seeming nonsense and always
have more to say?
The poem is satirizing the fact that America is great. But in reality
is very different. one of the ideals of America is liberty or equality,
but they don't have it. He also criticizes the politicians for inaction,
they tend to say things, but never do it. They are repeating the same
things again and again until it becomes meaningless.
Conclusions
Cummings' debut collection, Tulips and Chimneys, appeared in
1923 and presented for the first time his eccentric use of grammar
and punctuation, an approach, influenced by Gertrude Stein, that
gave his poetry a radical freshness. His own experience as a painter,
as well as a writer, meant that for Cummings the appearance of the
poem on the page contributes significantly to its mood and
meaning. Typical stylistic devices in his work include: running
words together; scattering punctuation symbols cross the page;
subverting the syntactical conventions of the English sentence;
intentional misspellings and phonetic spellings and the invention of
compound words such as "puddle-wonderful". However, this
obvious experimentation is often combined with strict formal
structures and traditional subject matter that reveals a strong bias
towards romanticism. There is also a satirical vein in his work
which mocks the mores of popular American life, particularly
society's belief in scientific rationalism
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
the poem, next to of course god america I" is a satire of blind
patriotism shown by soldiers and politicians, war and its effects to
an individual who has seen through it, the political will of America
in spreading Democracy in the name of liberty, Imperialism and the
importance of three things in connotation to the values still retained
by the individual regardless of the newfound estrangement with the
concepts of God and America. The deliberately simple language
and use of refrain gives the poem a fable-like quality and succeeds
in being both sophisticated and childlike, a classic Cummings
paradox. 'next to of course god America i' is a virtuoso example of
monologue written in a sonnet form. Cummings' bravura
performance brings out the clichéd nature of the old patriot's
ramblings: by running together a series of sound-bites Cummings
skewers brilliantly the essential meaninglessness of the speaker's
political and cultural assumptions. All of these aspects are reflected
through the use of foregrounding.
The concept of foregrounding, it has been found, is central
to the poetry of Whitman .Through utilizing the various techniques
of the concept, the poet is able to secure different effects . The most
obvious features of foregrounding utilized are the followings:
Concerning the syntactic foregrounding , the established norm
of the leaves ' narrative structure is the present tense . yet , the poet
foregrounds certain important instances in his poems through
shifting the narrative tense to that of the past. The shift is a signal
to the reader to note the significance of these instances being
narrated . The poet also resorts to inversion to secure emphasis. The
dominant feature is the subject / verb inversion, which is
accompanied by either adjectival or adverbial inversion.
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91 ‫ العدد‬/ ‫مجلة كلية االداب‬
Dr. Sarab Khaleil Alazawi
Lexical foregrounding is achieved through the compound words
.the poet uses this technique when he wishes to express difficult
feelings or unusual senses or images.
Semantic foregrounding, on the other hand , is achieved , by
animation , the most obvious instances of animation being those
related to the items of the universe observe through the senses of
the poet .
Foregrounding features are repeated and related to each other at
certain specific instances ,such as parallelism and animation . The
continuous repetition of those devices create a scheme of
foregrounded features that would amount to the statue of cohesion
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