E.E. Cummings

In the poem, “next to of course god america I,” by E.E. Cummings, the hidden, ugly reality of war is expressed through the ignorance of patriotism. Throughout this poem, Cummings gives examples of patriotism early, but quickly fades to the reality of what war is; violent and horrible. Cummings uses no punctuation in the first thirteen lines of this poem and his word placement gives more support to his purpose of composition. Cummings knows the rules of a poem and he breaks it to try to express a point. He wrote this poem the way he did to signify that in life, sometimes honesty is hidden by fear, and one must always be willing to be honest, regardless of the danger.
The first thing I noticed that separates Cummings poem from the popular form of poetry, is the way in which he structures this poem. He uses no punctuation or capitalization until his last line. I believe he does this to give the idea that the speaker is rushing his speech and saying everything that’s on his mind as fast has he can as to get it out before he is stopped by the listener. Then in the last line, “He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water.”(14) he uses punctuation to show a restoration of order. The speaker has finished his speech and nervously drinks a glass of water as he waits for his listener’s response.
The words in this poem begin as cut-outs from the national anthem and other patriotic songs. Cummings speaks of the pilgrims and the diversity of America, stating that these things compose America and in our defense, this is what we praise about ourselves. The reality, however, is that this country is exaggerating its pride to hide the death and gore of which this country is truly composed. Proud Americans shout about their heritage and cheer about the ‘beauty’ of the American life, but what Cummings points out is that the reality of America’s beauty is the “heroic happy dead/who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter…”(10-11).
Cummings tackles a controversial topic and states his opinion through his form and his use of word placement. Cummings ironically uses free verse, in the respect that this poem has neither form nor rhyme scheme. He uses his right of free speech to talk out against his country that grants him this right. Everything about this poem has a purpose, which makes it incredibly creative and oozes originality.