All Ignorance Toboggans Into Know
all ignorance toboggans into know
and trudges up to ignorance again:
but winter's not forever,even snow
melts;and if spring should spoil the game,what then?
all history's a winter sport or three:
but were it five,i'd still insist that all
history is too small for even me;
for me and you,exceedingly too small.
Swoop(shrill collective myth)into thy grave
merely to toil the scale to shrillerness
per every madge and mabel dick and dave
--tomorrow is our permanent address
and there they'll scarcely find us(if they do,
we'll move away still further:into now
and trudges up to ignorance again:
but winter's not forever,even snow
melts;and if spring should spoil the game,what then?
all history's a winter sport or three:
but were it five,i'd still insist that all
history is too small for even me;
for me and you,exceedingly too small.
Swoop(shrill collective myth)into thy grave
merely to toil the scale to shrillerness
per every madge and mabel dick and dave
--tomorrow is our permanent address
and there they'll scarcely find us(if they do,
we'll move away still further:into now
-- by e. e. cummings
Have never heard that before! :-)
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across it myself, as as we're in the season for toboggans (and other things), I thought, why not? :)
Deletee.e.cummings always has been a bit of a stumbling block for me, even though I've a few favorites from his work. ("What if a much of a which of a wind...") I don't remember ever hearing this one before, and it took a few reads. Now? It's on my list of real favorites.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the first two lines, and may even have a use for them down the road!
I'm so happy to see your post. I'm sure you're deep into preparations for a wonderfully different Christmas. I hope it's filled with magic, wonderment and joy - as it surely will be.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Linda,
Deletee.e.cummings has always been one of my favorites, but I think that has as much to do with what I don't understand of his work as what I do. Often I try not to worry about making sense of him; I just let the sound combinations collide in my head. It unsticks me. I do love that first stanza, though, this idea of comprehending how much we don't know, and then shooting back from it, unable to hold on to such a realization. How often do I feel that way! Especially as a mother of such a quickly changing boy.
Thank you for your holiday well wishes. Same to you!
i love the part where it says "tomorrow is our permanent address." I don't know if it's because there's the idea that we will always have tomorrow, or that we are always striving for tomorrow. makes you think.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I also love the idea of hiding away together in the very now, where so few of us are able to dwell (myself included). Thanks for reading!
DeleteI love e.e. cummings. The first poet that I really understood and could identify with other than Robert Frost. Of course, then I found Wendell Berry, and he touched my soul. This poem is so very nice! Thank You!
ReplyDelete