next to of course god america i

By E.E. Cummings

America

E.E. Cummings

• Edward Estin Cummings was born in Massachusetts, USA on 14 October 1894 and died in 1962.

• In the First World War he was a volunteer ambulance driver, but was imprisoned for 3 1/2 months in a French concentration camp when his letters home drew the attention of the military censors.

• He is known as an avant-garde poet, well known for experimenting with punctuation, syntax and structure and playing with both words and ideas.

• This poem was published in 1926 when anti-war sentiments where considered unpatriotic and shocking.

next to of course god america i

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKp29Luryc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKbsy2snyQw

• http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=7158

“next to of course god america ilove you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth ohsay can you see by the dawn’s early mycountry ’tis of centuries come and goand are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumb

What does this suggest about the speaker?

Where is this line taken from?

Enjambment

Dismissive. Undermines his commitment.

thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorryby jingo by gee by gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more

beautifulthan these heroic happy deadwho rushed like lions to the roaring slaughterthey did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?”He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

Speaking so quickly he has mispronounced ‘golly’

American Slang – why?

Powerful image of death and battle- implies?

What does this last line suggest?

Overview:‘next to of course god america i’ is a satirical poem. The absence of punctuation and capitalisation allows the reader to engage with the poem’s ambiguity – what does the speaker actually intend with his words? It is interesting that he chooses to capitalise the pronoun ‘He’ as if placing the speaker in a place of superiority or distance. He initially appears to glorify America, although this is also ambiguous as he tempers this with phrases such as ‘and so forth’. His oxymoronic description of the soldiers as ‘heroic happy dead’ also leaves the reader feeling ambivalent. In many ways one can view this as a very modern poem, with many of the criticisms Cummings levels at his country being as relevant today as they were in the 1920s.

What criticisms are contained within the poem?

Jingoism• Definition: extreme patriotism in the form of

aggressive foreign policy”

• It refers to the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard national interests, and colloquially to excessive bias in judging one’s own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

Theodore Roosevelt,8th October, 1895

There is much talk about'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'

theymean a policy in pursuance of

whichAmericans will with

resolution andcommon sense insist upon

our rightsbeing respected by foreign

powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Endingsthey did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?"He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

• Reflection...* Who is 'He'?What impression do we get of him?* Is his speech rambling words?Does the poet have a deeper purpose?• Explain your ideas.

Theodore Roosevelt,8th October, 1895

There is much talk about'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'

theymean a policy in pursuance of

whichAmericans will with

resolution andcommon sense insist upon

our rightsbeing respected by foreign

powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Interpreting the Text

• LanguageThink about the use of hyperbole, oxymorons and alliteration. What effects do they achieve?

• PunctuationTrack the punctuation of the poem.Is its use significant? What about capital letters?

• ImageryFind where the poet uses a simile and personification in this poem. Why are these images used?

Theodore Roosevelt,8th October, 1895

There is much talk about'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'

theymean a policy in pursuance of

whichAmericans will with

resolution andcommon sense insist upon

our rightsbeing respected by foreign

powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Agree/disagree?1. Because Cummings capitalises the H in 'He' but not the pronoun 'i', he is

placing the speaker and his personality at the centre of the poem.2. Cummings leaves out most of the punctuation so the reader can choose

where to pause for humorous/ironic effect.3. The poem initially comes across as rambling and a little incoherent but this

effectively emphasises the internal conflict of the speaker.4. The use of rhyme and alliteration gives the poem an internal structure that

makes it seem to sound quite pleasant.5. The glorification of war and the soldiers is a form of hyperbole as the

speaker doesn’t seem to mean it; it is used for effect.6. Without Cummings' use of oxymorons, the poem would lose its uncertainty

as it could either be read as either patriotic or anti- American.7. Not having a capital A for America in the title confirms that the poem is not

patriotic.

Theodore Roosevelt,8th October, 1895

There is much talk about'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism'

theymean a policy in pursuance of

whichAmericans will with

resolution andcommon sense insist upon

our rightsbeing respected by foreign

powers,then we are 'jingoes'.

Questions

• 1. How can we tell the poet is mocking the speaker?• 2. How does the title of the poem relate to the

content?• 3. How does the poet build up to an emotive end?• 4. What do you think the poet wants the public to

do?• 5. Why has the poet used extracts from well

known American patriotic songs?