The simplistic style, distinct word choice, and the provocative tone of E. E. Cumming’s O Sweet Spontaneous create a powerful piece of nature conscious literature that looks to indirectly answer the essence of life on earth.
The presentation of the spread out words and lines of the poem create increased
O Sweet Spontaneous by E.E. Cummings
emphasis on the meaning of each piece of prose. Certain words jump out at the reader and cause a type of unconscious impact on the perceived tone of the poem. The most obvious example of this writing characteristic can be found at the very end of Cummings work in the last line of “spring).” The poem builds up the sort of angst against “prurient philosophers,” scientists, and religious individuals who try to quantify the Earth’s nature and purpose only to finish with Mother Nature’s response of “spring).” The location of the word, which is displaced at the bottom center of the poem, gives the reader a simple but poignant response to an unanswerable question. Word choice seems to play a pretty significant roll in the delivery of a piece when a single word can represent a full line. The way each word sounds along with its connotation has a lot to do with the placement of the word in each stanza. Cummings displays contrast between the beautiful “sweet spontaneous earth” and the “naughty thumb of science/ fingers of prurient philosophers,” in order to create a man vs. nature competitive tone. His word choice gives a feeling of sexual molestation on one side and sweet innocence on the other. These oppositely charged words allow the reader to understand the poet’s purpose and message.
E.E. Cummings- lone figure and tree in stormy sunset Oil on canvas No date
As we discussed in class the sweet simplistic rhythm of nature is where its purpose lies. Appreciation for ones place within the earth is where the joy of life should stem from. Cummings seems to suggest that meaning or purpose can’t be learned or calculated, but is instead felt when those things don’t seem to matter anymore. One shouldn’t search for meaning; they should instead let meaning find them.
I really loved this poem, and I think your statement about how “purpose can’t be learned or calculated” hits on one of the most important points of the poem. This poem is such a pleasant departure from the work of writers such as Eliot or Pound because it isn’t so cerebral and weighed down with rhetoric. So much of High Modernism is very calculated, and deciphering layers upon layers of references can sometimes make reading it quite tedious. While perhaps Cummings isn’t exactly novel (as we discussed in class he looks back quite a bit to the Romantics), there is a simplicity about this poem that is refreshing and different from many other Modernist works.