Poem of the Day – she being Brand
Monday, 1 February 2010
she being Brand
-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and(having
thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.
K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her
up,slipped the
clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
kicked what
the hell)next
minute i was back in neutral tried and
again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my
lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity
avenue i touched the accelerator and give
her the juice,good
(it
was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on
the
internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and
brought allofher tremB
-ling
to a:dead.
stand-
;Still)
-e.e. cummingsThis is a wonderful poem for so many reasons. Everyone that I’ve reviewed this poem with has their own favorite part. It’s a favorite of mine because of the way Cummings masterfully employs the english language. Initially looking at the poem it’s hectic and daunting. After a read through it’s striking and affecting.
The strong sexual undertones don’t hurt either.
C. Harder
Related posts:
No. 1 — February 1st, 2010 at 9:54 pm
cummings is in a funny mood here. Have you ever heard his voice? There are a few recordings of him reading his stuff: lilting, falling-away, delicatedelicate intonations…. He sounds like a man dying of the idea of breathlessness itself.
TOG
No. 2 — February 1st, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I searched Youtube quickly and came up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iITDyFpFKRg
His voice is very delicate. In fact, it reminds me a little of T.S. Eliot’s voice. Poets of decades past read with a great drama that really reinforced their work. The side fact is that they sound a little silly.
-Christian Harder
No. 3 — February 2nd, 2010 at 12:13 am
This is a great piece, and one by cummings that I hadn’t read before. Thank you! It would be challenging to read aloud, but I might give it a go after some serious practice.
I’m glad I came across your blog!
No. 4 — February 2nd, 2010 at 12:21 am
I’m glad I could show you something you hadn’t seen. He does have some strange stuff, but it’s important to give it a chance! Really, if you read it as if there were no crazy punctuation, you’d be close enough. Truthfully, the punctuation adds to the rhythm in a great way, but just read it out and you’ll get the feel for it!
-Christian Harder
No. 5 — February 2nd, 2010 at 12:25 am
Also, I just checked out your blog. I really like it! Your readings are extremely good. Haha I don’t think you’d have a problem reading this at all.
No. 6 — February 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 am
Hey, thanks for the listen and the kudos. A couple of days ago I read “My Love Is Building a Building” by cummings and I agree, the breathlessness and erratic pauses caused by his choice of punctuation is a lot of fun to experiment with. This one of yours here is more of a biggie though. Drives me crazy to get several minutes into a poem, flub up and have to do a second take. But I might give this one a go after all.
No. 7 — February 2nd, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I like cummings’ voice. Eliot always sounds like he’s marching off to war to me.
TOG