[i sing of Olaf glad and big] 1931

Cummings describes Olaf with “whose warmest heart recoiled at war:” (1863) The reader is almost immediately introduced to the fact that the subject of this poem will be about the objection to war. From the introduction written about E.E. Cummings we are introduced to the fact that many of Cumming’s later poems are influenced by World War II, however it is interesting to note that this poem is written in 1931, 8 years before the war.

In the poem, he uses relatively sarcastic language such as “succinctly bred” to describe the colonel. However at the end of the second stanza we are introduced to what seem to be Cummings true thoughts, “‘I will not kiss your fucking flag’” (1863). This language is shocking but very clear and it resurfaces at the end of the third stanza,”’there is some shit I will not eat’” (1864).

Cummings seems to be using curse words to draw the reader’s attention to these statements. Cummings is very clearly against all aspects of war and he uses these words to show this objection. Although these statements are angry and harsh, there is a passion and a fire to them. The reader sees that Cummings is very strong willed about his objection to war, right before the horrific World War II takes place.

[what if a much of a which of a wind] 1944

The beginning of this poem contains a lot of negative connotations with harsh language such as, “lie”, “bloodies”, ”hanged” and “drowned”. Cummings offers us what seems to be the most horrific scenes, “when skies are hanged and oceans drowned” (1867) seemingly alluding to the end of nature and possibly the entire world. However, he ends this with “the single secret will still be man” (1867). By this Cummings seems to mean that even if the most horrific things happen to the world, the single thing that is still a mystery is mankind. This leads readers to draw the conclusion that Cummings feels disconnected from humans and seems to have little faith in them. Natural disasters make sense, nature itself makes sense to Cummings, however man still remains the “single secret”.

The poem goes on to get darker and colder as it describes the “screaming hills” and how the wind “strangles valleys”. Hills and valleys are typically present in peaceful scenes of spring which insinuate happiness and calm. Cummings has turned these symbols into symbols of horror and darkness. We see now how the effects  of World War II have found their way into Cummings work. This poem is written in 1944 right near the end of the war, contrasting with [i sing Olaf glad and big] written before the war in 1931.This poem has contradictions throughout, comparing summer, hills, and valleys to dark elements.

This poem seems to represent a death of peace and serenity. It is filled with horrifying and disturbing language that insinuate the end of the world. Perhaps, during this time period, it really did seem that world peace, along with the world itself, was coming to an end. We saw how passionate Cummings was about fighting the war, yet World War II broke out anyways and we see that Cummings is ultimately disappointed and disconnected from mankind.