i like my body when it is with your - E.E. Cummings

2007-09-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

Part 1:
After reading the poems assigned for Friday's class, I had a tough time deciding which poem I wanted to write a blog for. I decided between the poem by Robert Frost titled, "Out, Out--" and "i like my body when it is with your" written by E.E. Cummings. I have the greatest understanding of these two poems, so I picked between them. Apparently all the pieces in this collection of poems are "sexy," but I went for the sexiest one of all. I love how E.E. Cummings wrote this borderline pornographic poem, and I must say it was the only one to capture my undivided attention. I chose this dirty poem, since I'm not sure that many of the other students would comment on it in fear of being considered perverted. I thought, "Why not?" I feel this poem is so ridiculously obscene that I couldn't pass it up.

Part 2:
E.E. Cummings created his poetry by using a unique format of line structure. The formation of his poetry gives emphasis to the meaning that he's attempting to get across to the reader. The poem titled, "i like my body when it is with your," has sentences separated by more than one space after the periods or commas, while some words don't leave any space between the commas. This larger spacing technique forces the reader to take a longer pause after each sentence or line. The poem is read more sensually and more direct when each sentence is read individually. For example, lines 4 and 5 are read with more passion and the distance between the phases place more emphasis on meaning of the words. Instead of line 4 being read simply, without pause, "i like your body. i like what it does," and line 5, "i like its hows. i like to feel the spine," the distance between the phrases gives added meaning due to punctuation.
On the other hand, the crowded words are read in a jumbled manner or quicker pace which adds to the meaning of the poem in a different sense. Lines 10 and 11 use this technique. The commas don't make much grammatical sense in the spots they are placed, but they allow the lines to flow much better than if they weren't there. A slight pause hints that the reader is out of breath and possibly panting which makes the words of the poem come to life.
Also the lines end with certain words that make the sentences seem even more bold. After reading the first line of the poem, the reader might think, "What is it that you like?" The reader is excited and interested to find out about the speaker and his/her likes. The second line finishes the thought and the reader's satisfied to have learned this fact. Lines 8 and 9 are written the way they are for that same purpose. Line 8 leads up to something that the speaker likes to do over and over again. This act is revealed in the next line and gives the reader more satisfaction.
The pronoun "I" is never capitalized in this poem, and it is always followed by the word "like." The author does this to make the poem a little less structured. Since the content of the poem is sexual and dirty, the format of the lines should be the same way. A clean, put together poem would not match up with its raunchy context, so I believe the a messy structure suits it more appropriately. The strange spacing between words goes along with this perspective since it does not make the poem grammatically correct.
The line space between lines 12, 13, and 14 are also unique to this poem. E.E. Cummings uses this technique for similar reasons he puts gaps between sentences. When the lines stand alone, the reader reads them more carefully which allows the reader to better understand what the words mean. These lines end the poem and therefore, their meaning is the most important.
The text of E.E. Cummings' poem "i like my body when it is with your" describes a vivid, detailed description of sexual acts between two people. I interpreted this poem as the speaker being female and her partner is male. Throughout the poem, this woman is describing what she likes about her lovers body, how it feels, and how it makes her feel. She kisses her man all over and makes him tremble which is a reference to his climax. She does this by kissing him and "stroking" him. Obviously, this poem is about an intimate situation between two people, and the text and format further emphasize and highlight the most intimate moments.

"Ode on a Grecian Urn"

2007-09-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Part 1:
After the first time reading "Ode on a Grecian Urn," I was completely confused. As with basically all poetry, I never understand it after reading it for the first time or even the second. Actually, it takes me quite a few times to get the general meaning of a poem. I guess you could say I'm not a poetry lover unless it is published in the only poetry book I've ever owned titled Sing a Song of Popcorn. Getting back to the poem, I hate saying it, but I was simply not interested. I most likely felt this way because I have a tiny vocabulary and didn't understand words like "loth," "ditties," "heifer," and "pious". No one talks like that anymore! I know the beauty of poetry consists of a flowing language with hidden meanings, but I just wish that the poem would get straight to the point and not confuse me!

Part 2: John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is about poetry or anything you want it to be about. (haha just kidding)

Serious now...

Part 2:
John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" describes an urn which has figures carved into the surface. In the first stanza, the reader is trying to figure out who the characters are and the story that they are trying to tell. In the first line, the word "still" describes the time on the urn and hints that the figures are stationary. Questions arise that aim at interpreting the figures on the urn. The reader asks, "What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?....". With these questions being asked, the reader is becoming extremely interested about the purpose of these characters.
In the second stanza, the idea of being frozen in time is discussed. Keats goes into the negatives of time standing still and also reflects about the positive aspects. A young man is playing his pipe to his lover underneath a tree. Keats mentions that the music the piper is playing cannot be heard which is one negative to being trapped in time. Another negative aspect is that the piper will never be able to kiss his lover. On the other hand, frozen time could be a good thing since the tree will never loose its leaves and the beauty of the woman will never fade.
The idea about the trees never becoming bare is reiterated in the third stanza. Although the pipers songs are silent, Keats switches to a positive outlook which is that the songs will be "for ever young." Human love is described as causing a "heart high-sorrowful," and the life of the urn does not allow for any suffering or disappointment since it's unchanging.
A turn is made in the poem with the start of the fourth stanza. A new carved image is being analyzed on the urn. The picture is described as the townspeople gathered at a sacrifice. The reader imagines the little village of having no residents since all are at the sacrifice. Since the "folk" are all gathered at one place on the urn, they are at that location permanently and the town will be empty.
The reader is no longer within the context of the urn in stanza five. The urn is once again described as being "eternity" or forever frozen. The phrase used in line forty four, "Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought," suggests that this unchanging ideal world does not truly exist and teases the reader since it does not allow for any real fulfilment.
The final couplet is a confusing message due to the fact that the the speaker is unknown and the one that the message is directed to is also unknown. It has been suggested that art is being rejected since it holds no truth. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty...," which could be interpreted as life being the only true beauty since it's real. Another interpretation could be that the reader is saying that the statement, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," is the only thing the urn needs to know.
The speaker comes to a conclusion that the urn will still remain when this generation is dead. The characters on the urn and the stories that they tell will last through time since time does not change them. The last couplet further demonstrates that the urn is beauty since it holds some truth about the past and about the time before the images were carved. Keat's feels that the urn teaches us that the past cannot be changed and that is the beauty of it.

New Jersey Girl

i like my body when it is with your - E.E. Cummings

"Ode on a Grecian Urn"