what is the literal meaning of next to of course god america i

by Jakob Rogahn III Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago 6 min read

E.E. Cummings “next to of course god america i” is a poem about patriotism and the war. The poem starts off with the speaker being someone that is a patriot and feels strongly about America. As the poem progresses it takes a different approach becoming very sarcastic.

More specifically, the poem suggests that mindless patriotism often leads to violence, since it can fuel enthusiasm for war. The poem's cynical view of patriotism is illustrated by the lack of substance in the speaker's speech about America.

Full Answer

What is the meaning of next to of course god america i?

What does the speaker do at the end of next to of course god america i?

With the last line of 'next to of course god america i', the speaker reveals the readers that all that he has been saying is not spoken by him but to him. However, his decision to repeat what he has been told reveals that the ideas resonate with him.

Is next to of course God America IA sonnet?

next to of course god america i is a 14 line sonnet with a rhyme scheme ababcdcdefgfeg and an inconsistent iambic meter (metre in British English) which helps vary the rhythmic stresses of the lines. Basically this is a hybrid English and Russian sonnet with a cumming's twist - a single line at the end.Sep 23, 2020

What is the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls about?

'the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls' by E. E. Cummings is about the differences in social classes, ignorance, and reality. The speaker judges the Cambridge women for the fiction they engage in and their lack of interest in the real world. This piece is one of Cummings' easiest to read.

Deceitful Patriotic Allusions

The opening allusions in lines 1 through 3, from "The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) and “America/My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1831), are also used in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech of 1963.

Deaf and Dumb Listening, Speaking

Cummings' speaker uses an amusing contradiction that alludes to senseless babbling in line 6, as he speaks of “every language even deafanddumb.” He then proceeds in line 8 to hyperbolically allude to common folk/salt-of-the-earth clichés, sprinkled in his text like field fertilizer; “by jingo by gee by gosh by gum” is his attempt to find the right metaphor for his plain, simple audience, the more easily to appeal to them as a man of the people.

Keats, Lions and Lambs

In line 9, the speaker asks rhetorically, “Why talk of beauty?” an allusion to Keats’ “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” as he drums up false sentiment for war, alluding hypocritically to the honor of casualties: “what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead” who, in a mixed metaphor, rush like “lions to the slaughter” rather than lambs.

Should Liberty Be Mute?

Cummings’ final allusion in line 13, “should the voice of liberty be mute?” is also a rhetorical question, alluding to the “Voice of Liberty” broadcasts of FDR’s fireside chats before World War II; in truth, the voice of the speaker who feigns a love of liberty probably should be mute.