GriffinEpsteinEpstein1

OConnor
1stHonorsEnglish
7April2016

OSweetSpontaneous
ByE.E.Cummings
Osweetspontaneous
earthhowoftenhave
the
doting

fingersof
prurientphilosopherpinched
and
poked

thee
hasthenaughtythumb
ofscienceprodded
thy

beauty.
how

oftenhavereligionstaken
qtheeupontheirscraggyknees
squeezingand

buffetingtheethatthoumightestconceive
gods
(but
true

totheincomparable
couchofdeaththy
rhythmic
lover

thouanswerest

themonlywith
(spring)
OSweetSpontaneousExplication
ThepoemOSweetSpontaneousbyE.E.Cummingsprovidesafascinatingmessage
throughCummingsuniqueandabstractstyle.Thispoempresentsaconflictbetweenthe
romanticizedandthescientists/philosophers.Thespeakerillustratesdetailsofdefiance,anger,
andresistancetothesocietalnormsofpokingandproddingthebeautyoflife.Clearly,the

speakerissomeonewhoisfrustratedwithscienceandisaddressinganaudiencethatisuncertain
ofthetwopathstotake.Cummingspresentsaverymotivatedspeakerwithaimportantmessage.
Thepoembeginsbyaddressingbeingspontaneousorreactingonthespurofthemoment
insteadofoverthinking.Thepoemgoesonaddressingtheproblemwithscienceandphilosophy
usingcrudeandnegativewordsincludingnaughtythumbandprurientclearlygettingthe
pointacrossaboutthemisgivingsofthesetwogroups.Hethanreachesaclimaxoftheplotor
conflictasheinsultsreligionbuffetingtheethatthoumightestconceivegods(1819)tosum
upthehorrificdeedoftheoverthinkersandhowtheyignorebeautyandfreedom.Thespeaker
providesasolutioninthefinallinethouanswerestthemonlywithspring(2628)asapeaceful
andtothepointsolutiontotheoverthinkersandtheprooderofbeautyintheworld.Howeverthe
poemhelpsthespeakerexemplifytheargumentsthataregivenwithmanycreativepoetic
devices.
E.E.Cummingsdoesamasterfuljobprovidingaspeakerthatisabletorevealalotabout
himselfandhismessagethroughthepoeticdevicesheuses.Thespeakerusesalargeamountof
personificationthroughoutthepoemincluding:naughtythumbofscience.(910)Thisdevice
makesthereaderfeellikethesegroupsscience,philosophy,religion,areliving,breathing
people.Thathelpsgiveaneffectofthesegroupsofpeoplenowbeingevilwhichseemstobefar
morerealistictothereaderthanjustthinkingasthemasagroup.Thespeakeralsouses
alliterationprurientphilosopherpinched(7)givingthepoemarelaxingandpoeticeffect.What
reallystandsoutaboutthestyleofthispoemisE.E.Cummingsclassicstyle.
E.E.Cummignsisknownforhisabstract,wild,andsometimesjustplainbizarrepoetic
organizationandstyle.Oneofthefirstthingsthatareadernoticesaboutthepoemisitsstrange
organization.Thestanzasappeartobehoweverlongthepoetwantsthemtobeandthelinesare
typicallyextremelyshortandevensometimesjustoneword.Sentencesalwaysareonmultiple

linesandsomerunontomultiplestanzaseventhoughitcanmakethepoemsoundawkwardand
strange.Inthepoemthespellingofmanywordsiswrong,grammarishorrible,andthepoemis
writtenincacophony:(buttruetotheincomparablecouchofdeaththyrhythmiclover
(1924).Thismakesthepoemextremelyunconventionalandoftenstrangebutalsoemploysan
emphasisonsomeofthosewordsandtheodditiesthemselves.AlltheseelementsCummings
employsinthepoemgivethereadertheideaofbeingfreeandnotfollowingthenormorstaying
insidetheboundariesofinferredpoeticrules.Theideaofbeingfreeandwritinghoweveryou
want,evenifit'snotpoeticallycorrect,fitshandinhandwiththeoverridingthemeofthepoem.
Beingfreeandnotlettingboundariescontainyouisamaintalkingpointthatthespeaker
employs.Science,philosophy,andreligionallhavesomethingsimilarincommoninthattheyall
tellyouwhattodoandbelieve.Religionevenforcesyoutobelieveinsomethingandfollowit.
Thespeakerdoesn'twantpeopletohearsomethingandjustadmitit'strue.Thespeakerwants
peopletobreakstereotypesandexpectations.Thepoemsays:justbecausethereisasocietal
normdoesnotmeanthatpeopleshouldfollowthenorm.Insteadthosepeopleshouldspeakout
andhaveavoiceinthisworld.Hewantsallpeopletobelievewhattheywantandhelpshare
theirbeliefsaslongasthosebeliefscomefromtherightplace.
Whilethespeakerwantspeopletomakedecisionsforthemselvesthebestwayistocomeup
withyourdecisionsandchoicesfromyourheart.Whenpeoplealwaysleadwiththeirheartthey
willalmostalwaysmaketheethicaldecisionwhichwillbenefiteverypersonaroundthem.They
willalsonotoverthinkthingsandputtherenosyfingersinplacesthey'renotreallyneeded.
Therearesomemysteriesthatcanbeandarebetterunsolvedasthespeakeraddressesscience
andscientists.Theideaofthinkingfromtheheartfirstleadsbacktobeingfreeandnotletting
peopleinfluenceeachotherdecisions.Ifsocietydoesn'tleteachpersonmakeadecisionand
reallythinkaboutchangingsomethingthepersoncanneverstarttothinkfromtheheartwhen

theywillmaketheirowndecisions.Theywillnevergettolead,notbeinfluencedbyother
peopleorevermakeadecisionthatmakesadifference.Mostunethicaldecisionsthataremade
bypeopleareinfluencedbyagroupthatthinksfromthebrainandnottheheart.Thebrainis
wherepower,greed,andmoneyaretheprimarythoughts.Whenthatscenariohappensextremely
astoundingunethicalthingshappeninsociety(example:LGBTdiscriminationasaresultof
religion.)Howeveraccordingtothespeakerifeverypersondecidedtostepoutsidethebox,
breakanorm,andnotletoutsidesourcesinfluencethemeverybodycouldtrulythinkfromthe
heartandmaketheethicaldecisionwhichwouldmakeourearthamuchbetterplace.
Certainlyareadermayviewthispoemasgivingoffanimageoftheearthasaplaceinneed
ofmuchfixingsinceitsseverelydamaged.Thoughifthereaderlooksatthepoemcloserthey
canseeaworldthatwhileimprovementsneedtobemadethereisanearthportrayedthatis
actuallystillabeautifulplace.Whatthespeakerreallywantsthereadertofeelisanimageofa
beautifulworldthatneedstobemaintainedandkeptbeautifulbecauseitisbeingthreatened.We
don'tneedtomakethisearthgreatagain.Thisearthisstillbeautifulandgreatbutjustneedsto
bemended.Thatprocesscanstartbythinkingfromtheheartandnotalwaysfollowingthe
crowd,family,society,money,andthecommunity.Thatmendingworkwillbeastartonthe
rightpath.Ifthefixingofearthavoidsthewrongpaththejudgingandhatredofapersonthat
vowstodosomethingoffthebeatenroadwilldisappear.
WorksCited
E.E.Cummings.
Poets.org
AmericanAcademyofPoets,n.d.Web.25,March,2016.
Everett,NicholasandKennedyS.,Richard.E.E.CummingsLife.
DepartmentofEnglishat
UniversityofIllinois.
AmericanNationalBiographyOnline,18,March2001.Web.25,March,
2016.