i thank You God for most this amazing
e. e. cummings’ unconvential use of grammar, syntax, and style forces you to slow down as you read his poetry in order, not just to decipher, but more to savor the meaning he is crafting and offering over to his reader.
Born into a Unitarian family, cummings’ poetry is infused with a sense of God – God’s Being, God’s presence in nature, and God’s goodness, a goodness that in turn prompts cummings’ profound and lyrical gratitude. With that in mind, this seemed like a fine poem to tarry over for a few moments as we move toward Thanksgiving, a day we also ought to slow down and savor, offering our own heartfelt, and perhaps even well-crafted, words of thanks to God for the many blessings of this life.
After the poem, I will also place a recording of cummings reading his poem.
i thank You God for most this amazing
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
From e. e. cummings, 100 Selected Poems
Notes: 1) If you are receiving this post by email, you may need to click here to watch the video.
2) Thanks to Stuart for sending this poem my way.
Dear David,
Thank you for these wonderful thoughts and your unique innovation to entwine Holy Scripture and Contemporary Creativity,
I am a recently retired Episcopal Pastor and have so enjoyed your Site. It has become the main portion of my daily devotion!
Thank you again…and may you and yours enjoy blessed holidays.
Carole
Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem. It fit so perfectly with my post, I had to update it and share it as well.
Bless,Praise,GOD,Israel,
You yours all everyone.
Thank YOU GOD
Amen.
I love this poem, but not this reading. I guess my opinion is, this poem is universal, as poetry should be. But this is just an opinion. I am not an older white English man, but the poem does speak to me.
So, there is that. The words are there, and they are beautiful. My mind’s ear just sounds so different.