Max’s Musings: e. e. cummings

Why does poetry excel at breaking the rules?

Poet e. e. cummings has always reigned supreme as the king of breaking the standards of typical poetry. Offering the chance to explore one’s self and creativity by any means necessary, poetry is heightened and enlightened by cummings ability to go against what is expected as “normal” poetry.

I have always admired cummings’s abilities to break traditional rules within standard English. I have even seen them affect my own writing. The greatest joy a writer can grasp is seeing their writing evolve. Whether a poet plays around with experimental forms, capitalization, or prevalent grammatical rules, an empty piece of paper is forever a poet’s playground to explore and control for the taking.  

I selected e. e. cummings’s “may my heart always be open to little” which was published back in 1938 due to its ability to showcase the promising and symbiotic relationship between one’s heart and one’s mind.

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may my heart always be open to little

birds who are the secrets of living

whatever they sing is better than to know

and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry

and fearless and thirsty and supple

and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong

for whenever men are right they are not young

 

and may myself do nothing usefully

and love yourself so more than truly

there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail

pulling all the sky over him with one smile

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e. e. cummings explores the never-ending duality between the heart and the mind, which is one for the ages. It is an archetype that is constantly dissected. The heart and the mind are eternally at battle until one of them finds victory or they find ways to coexist happily and peacefully.

The speaker is transparent with their emotions and thoughts, which fully inspires others—like the reader—to follow suit. They plead, “may the heart always be open” as potentially vulnerable and freeing, but it holds more power when expressed rather than when left alone and forgotten.

The heart, resembling a bird feeder, offers nourishment for the birds that are “the secrets of living”. The speaker finds miracles and purpose within them. The “birds” are passions that linger throughout the heart. As poets and artists, we are always finding and developing new ways to let our creativity find a permanent place in this world. When one passion or “bird” finally becomes full, it is acceptable to move on to another that is need of attention and focus. It is okay to feed multiple “birds” at once and dip different toes in the vast waters of creativity.

The speaker’s mind on the other hand wavers in openness and fulfillment. The speaker longs to starve their own mind and let it “stroll about hungry”. The mind constantly craves new information and knowledge to feed on. This is not the case for the speaker. The mind, standing as a symbol for mental health, can bring along traumas, hardships, and negativity. Although you want to starve the negative voices that reside within the mind, it is important to foster positive ones as well.

As the mind ages, just like the body, it is easy to lose imagination and creativity. There is a desire to leave behind a legacy in this world before one grows too old to do so. This is something poets and artists alike deal with daily.

100 Selected Poems by e. e. cummings (paperback), held up to the eternal PNW duality of trees and buildings.

The Evergreen Echo

A poet is constantly trying to find purpose even when they feel like they “do nothing usefully” and cannot find favor within themselves. Whether it is in a literary space or within the mechanisms of themselves, a poet constantly explores ways of appeasing the mind and the heart. The speaker finds ways to perform miracles and refrains from being overtaken by the power of their mind while following their heart. The speaker’s prophetic voice offers words of wisdom and whimsy for all those willing to listen as they pull “all the sky over him with one smile”.

As someone who enjoys writing about the heart and the mind through my own poetry, I realize the heart and the mind are both powerful tools on their own. The two, when combined, are indestructible, especially for artists and writers. Tap into the positivity and the negativity from both the heart and the mind. After suppressing parts of my heart for so long and listening to the voices that lingered in my mind, I have found closure.

Some days, the heart wins. Other days, the mind takes over. The two, however, must find ways to coexist inside you.