2014 12 Dez
„Let’s live suddenly without thinking“
von: Manafonistas Filed under: Blog | TB | 6 Comments
6 Comments
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Michael Engelbrecht:
The poet and critic Randall Jarrell once noted that Cummings is “one of the most individual poets who ever lived—and, though it sometimes seems so, it is not just his vices and exaggerations, the defects of his qualities, that make a writer popular. But, primarily, Mr. Cummings’s poems are loved because they are full of sentimentally, of sex, of more or less improper jokes, of elementary lyric insistence.”
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Michael Engelbrecht:
„Let’s Live Suddenly Without Thinking
under honest trees,
a stream
does.the brain of cleverly-crinkling
-water pursues the angry dream
of the shore. By midnight,
a moon
scratches the skin of the organised hillsan edged nothing begins to prune
let’s live like the light that kills
and let’s as silence,
because Whirl’s after all:
(after me)love,and after you.
I occasionally feel vague how
vague idon’t know tenuous Now-
spears and The Then-arrows making do
our mouths something red,something tall“ -
Harlow:
Ok, the thing about poetry is that it is subjective. Having said that, here is my take:
The poem is about love that two people jumped into out of the blue without thinking too much about it
‚let’s live suddenly without thinking“It was a love which was based on honesty „under honest trees“, that comes impulsively (stream-think stream of consciousness), like a stream of water. All the thoughts that came to the lovers seemed full of clarity and intelligence „brain of cleverly-crinkling“
„Water pursues the angry dream of the shore“ sounds like thoughts of cheating that one of the lovers begins to feel when those crazy thoughts of infatuation begin to slow down.
„By midnight, a moon scratches the skin of the organised hills“ This one could mean about cheating with somebody in a place like a suburban community „organised“ OR talking about getting physical contact with a woman’s breasts „organised hills“…. think that art exhibit Sensations 1997 NYC where one artist depicted a woman as a map, her breasts-hills. „Scratches-obviously passionate sex“
The next line…. I don’t know…..
„let’s live like the light that kills“ live like the daylight…. which gives life and yet kills illusions. You know how things come out into the light eventually? The author is saying: bask in the light but remember that it can destroy the relationship, by highlighting its problems
„and let’s as silence, because Whirl’s after all“ enjoy the silence, symbiotic feeling you get with another person (like in their arms), because when the break-up will come it will be whirl-loud, crazy, unsettled
„(after me) love, and after you“ SO that whirl, all those loud, painful thoughts are still spinning when the relationship is done „after“„I occasionally feel vague how vague I don’t know tenuous“ I feel sad and confused, in what way? I feel fragile and weak now.
„Now-spears and The Then-arrows“ meaning now-spears Now-pain, current pain that the exes cause each other (like a spear that kills you and hurts) , „then-arrows“ refers to the pain the couple caused each other before the breakup, that led up to the breakup.
„Making do our mouths something red, something tall“… What I gather by that is something red is figuratively, blood. That sensation you get in your mouth like blood in your mouth before you die a tragic death. As for something tall… not sure
I hope this helped. Again it’s all subjective
(Harlow)
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Martina Weber:
I´m surprised about the poem because I didn´t know e.e.cummings that way (where did you find this, Michael?, and I am enthusiastic about what Harlow wrote. I myself need a little more time to think about it.
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Michael Engelbrecht:
I found it by chance. Nearly. In my next radio night I’ll play the performance of another E. E. Cummings poem. I can’t even say too much about the poem, cause the singing of the artist is so heartbreaking that I ‚ m always distracted from the words (though, again, they are articulated with extreme clarity). By looking for the radio poem (and not finding it) I found this. And the cat.
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Martina Weber:
It was very interesting to me what you wrote, Harlow. My attempt is a litte bit different.
I wouldn´t analyze sentence by sentence first but have a look at the whole. e.e. cummings is a poet you have to approach by reading not by listening. Remember this marvellous poem with first linemOOn Over tOwns mOOn
cummings does not use language as a device for the expression of thoughts, but acts more playfully which sometimes corresponds with a kind of hide and seek with words and sense.Words are missing, logic ceases to be in force. His early poems were nearly meaningless (the mOOn-poem illustrates the rising and vanishing MooN) or there was no unambigous sense, which I find pleasant. Messages in poems bore me.
“Let´s live suddenly without thinking” is a great title. It implies a normal world where thinking is always connected with living, thus the theme is a dissociation of this conventional DIN A 4 world. It may be a love poem, too. I´m far away from understanding the poem and from being able to present a perfect interpretation. And I think this may be cumming´s message. You will not understand anything. So: suddenly live, companion. This is your take.
I can´t see the passionate sex, Harlow, unfortunately :). In my opinion the “organised hills” are not female breasts but they are part of the narrow minded world, as well as the honest trees. There is no sex under honest trees, but the attempt to live there, in spite of even civilised nature (honest trees and organised hills). If you just try to live suddenly in such a horrible organised world, then, “by midnight, a moon scratches the organised hills”. The outsider´s energy is strong. A moon begins to destroy the normal world. Moon, which is a symbol for so many threatening things beyond logical access, and here it is “a” moon which means there are several ones (not “the” moon) so it is even more crazy.
“an edged nothing begins to prune”: the DIN A 4 world begins to fall as there are people who dare to live as they want: suddenly and without fear.
“let´s live like the light that kills / and let´s [live, this is to be completed, M. W.] as silence”: Again the request just to live without thinking, here in other words, to live like the light, to live like the silence. Great pictures for you cannot see them, you only can feel them. Why does the light kill? In this context I think is is not a danger for the lovers´relationship (as there are no lovers so far), but the light is a symbol for nature which can be unpredictable (as the moons´effect on “organised hills”).
“after all: (after me)love”: After the chaos and the lyrical “I” has gone, this is what´s left: is is love. But it´s just a thought, there are no lovers. It is the idea of love which leaves. The lyrical “I” does not really feel well but vague. In the end there is this violence of spears and arrows and this very symbolic “something red, something tall”. There is no real grammar in this sentence, but maybe in the end this red colour could be the symbol of suddenly living. A symbol which can be seen, it is red, and it grows. You just have to begin. To live suddenly. It is dangerous, you can be killed. This poem is a praise of breaking the rules. It shows you can be strong even when threatened. Love is what survives, maybe not the lovers.