And this is where cummings’ reference to the ‘heroic happy dead’ who have ‘rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter’ might be interpreted as a criticism of a certain brand of zealous patriotism, which glorifies fighting for one’s country and celebrates the dead as ‘happy’ – assuming they were all ‘happy’ to give their lives in service of their great nation.
The American poet e. e. cummings (as he styled himself) was one of the most linguistically experimental mainstream modernist poets writing in the United States in the twentieth century, and his poem ‘next to of course god america i’ is a fine example of his innovative style.
The poem goes on to summon a number of earlier patriotic poems about the United States, such as Francis Scott Key’s ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ (better known as the US national anthem), specifically the opening line ‘Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light’ , and the patriotic hymn ‘ America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee) ’.
Sir Christopher Ricks, the literary critic, made a similar point about great religious works of art risking the charge of blasphemy. The same, we might say, is true of all interesting patriotic poems. You can read ‘next to of course god america i’ by Cummings here before proceeding to our analysis.
He removes himself from the poem by using a speaker within a speaker, but the content of the poem directly corresponds with Cummings’ life experiences. As a volunteer during World War I, Cummings acquired a bitterness for war which he did not scruple to express. He was outspoken and willing to go against the grain to stand up for ...
After some time of volunteering, Cummings and a friend were detained in a prison camp, as the authorities became suspicious of them, partly due to Cumming’s habit of being rather outspoken about his anti-war beliefs. It is no surprise, then, that Cummings wrote about his anti-war beliefs.
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum. With these lines, the speaker reveals that people of every language, and yes even deaf people have “acclaim [ed” the “glorious” name of patriotism through the “gory details of war”. The use of the words “jingo”, “gee”, “gosh” and “gum” suggest that the speaker believes the gory wars in the name ...
It is also a satire on the type of blind jingoism that distorts otherwise intelligent minds in relation to their country. cummings applies a reductio ad absurdum technique, mocking the way in which people blinded by patriotism can acquire illogical and dangerous beliefs.
ee cummings, a pacifist, was imprisoned during World War One for his supposed disloyalty to America. He was also accused, falsely, of being a spy. After the war he moved to Paris where he wrote satirical poems.
These are broken up by few dismissive words, like, “and so forth” and “what of it”. It is notable that there are fourteen lines — the length of a sonnet.
This is ironic, as sonnets are formal, structured and intelligently witty, whereas this poem is nonsensical gibberish — though of course also extremely intelligent. cummings deliberately makes the poem incomprehensible, like the extreme patriotism he is mocking.
slideshare.netImage: slideshare.netE.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.
next to of course god america i seems to be spoken from the heart of E. E. Cummings himself. He removes himself from the poem by using a speaker within a speaker, but the content of the poem directly corresponds with Cummings’ life experiences.
E. E. Cummings published " next to of course god america i " in 1926 as part of his poetry collection Is 5, which contained a number of anti-war poems. In keeping with this, the poem satirizes the intense patriotism that many people adopted during World War I .
This article is an analysis of Next To Of Course God America I by E. E. Cummings. Next To Of Course God America I Analysis: The poem is a satire on political arrogance and the exploitation of patriotism to justify conflict. Form: Written as a sonnet. little punctuation. Lowercase and unusual grammar.
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.