I wonder if the phrases “leaping greenly spirits of trees” and “blue true dream of sky” were inspired by a view from his farmstead one August day.Ĭummings is notorious for his idiosyncratic poetic style, which is marked especially by unconventional syntax-that is, a nonlogical ordering of words. The elation he felt in this environment of wooded hills, fields, and lake he worked into several of his poems. 3 One of his favorite subjects to paint was the landscape surrounding his summer home at Joy Farm in Silver Lake, New Hampshire (see image above). Humanities students are always introduced to Cummings as a poet, but actually, painting is the endeavor he invested most of his time in. And for Cummings, Truth is a person, a “You” with a capital Y. Elements from these two complementary traditions can be detected in his praise poem “i thank You God for most this amazing,” in which the natural world triggers an awakening to Truth. As an adult he wed this spiritual framework to Emersonian transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that celebrates humanity and nature. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was raised, a pastor’s son, in the Unitarian faith, which emphasizes the oneness of God. Cummings, 2 is one of America’s most famous twentieth-century poets. Copyright expires 2045.Įdward Estlin Cummings (1894–1962), known as E. Reprinted here by permission of the publisher. This poem was originally published in Xaipe 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1950), reissued in 2004 by Liveright, an imprint of W.W. How should tasting touching hearing seeing Which is natural which is infinite which is yesĪnd this is the sun’s birthday this is the birthĭay of life and of love and wings:and of the gay Watercolor, 12 × 18 in.ĭay:for the leaping greenly spirits of treesĪnd a blue true dream of sky and for everything Cummings (American, 1894–1962), Chocorua Landscape.
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