A Discussion of the Poem, "i carry your heart with me," by E. E.
Cummings
The poem, "i carry your heart with me," by E. E. Cummings has
been a favorite love poem and a favorite selection at weddings
for many years. The poem has gained renewed interest since being
featured in the film, "In Her Shoes." It is used with
devastating effect in the film's climactic wedding scene and
again to close the movie. Countless fans have been inspired to
review the touching words of "i carry your heart with me."
The Poet
E. E. Cummings was born Edward Estlin Cummings in 1894 in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died in North Conway, N.H., in
1962. Cummings earned a B.A. degree from Harvard in 1915 and
delivered the Commencement Address that year, titled "The New
Art." A year later he earned an M.A. degree for English and
Classical Studies, also from Harvard.
Cummings joined an ambulance corps with the American Red Cross
in France during World War I. The French imprisoned him on
suspicion of disloyalty, a false accusation that put Cummings in
prison for three months. He wrote the novel, The Enormous
Room, about his experience. Many of Cummings' writings have
an anti-war message.
Cummings was a fine artist, playwright and novelist. He studied
art in Paris following World War I and he adopted a cubist style
in his artwork. He considered himself as much a painter as a
poet, spending much of the day painting and much of the night
writing. Cummings particularly admired the artwork of Pablo
Picasso. Cummings' understanding of presentation can be seen in
his use of typography to "paint a picture" with words in some of
his poems.
During his lifetime Cummings wrote over 900 poems, two novels,
four plays, and had at least a half dozen showings of his
artwork.
Contrary to popular opinion Cummings never legalized his name
as, "e.e. cummings." His name properly should be capitalized.
The Poem
E. E. Cummings' poetry style is unique and highly visual. His
typographical independence was an experiment in punctuation,
spelling and rule-breaking. His style forces a certain rhythm
into the poem when read aloud. His language is simple and his
poems become fun and playful.
Cummings' poem, "i carry your heart with me," is about deep,
profound love, the kind that can keep the stars apart and that
can transcend the soul or the mind. The poem is easily read,
easily spoken, and easily understood by people of all ages.
The poem could almost be called a sonnet. It has nearly the
right number of lines in nearly the right combination. But,
typical of a Cummings poem, it goes its own direction and does
so with great effect.
The poem makes an excellent love song when set to music. The
outstanding guitarist, Michael Hedges, has set "i carry your
heart" to music on his "Taproot" album. Hedges himself sings the
lead, but the backing vocals are sung by David Crosby and Graham
Nash.
More than 168 of Cummings' original poems have been set to
music.
Enjoy the words and the sentiments of this famous poem.
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)