LC5 02-05 p34 Poet FC R
12/10/04
3:20 PM
POETRY
Page 2
Understanding Genre: Poetry
True
LovePoems
Mag
A POEM ABOUT BEING OUT OF LOVE,
AND A POEM ABOUT BEING IN LOVE
I wish to God I never saw you, Mag.
I wish you never quit your job and came along with me.
I wish we never bought a license and a white dress
For you to get married in the day we ran off to a minister
And told him we would love each other and take care of each other
Always and always long as the sun and the rain lasts anywhere.
Yes, I’m wishing now you lived somewhere away from here
And I was a bum on the bumpers a thousand miles away dead broke.
I wish the kids had never come
And rent and coal and clothes to pay for
And a grocery man calling for cash,
Every day cash for beans and prunes.
I wish to God I never saw you, Mag.
I with to God the kids had never come.
34 FEBRUARY 2005 Literary Cavalcade
LEFT PAGE, LEFT TO RIGHT: ©HANS NELEMAN/PHOTONICA; ©STEVE EVANS/PHOTONICA;
©BILL SYKES IMAGES/PHOTONICA; RIGHT PAGE, TOP TO BOTTOM: ©AP/WIDE WORLD
PHOTOS; ©BETTMANN/CORBIS
FROM 95 POEMS BY E.E. CUMMINGS. COPYRIGHT © 1958
BY E.E. CUMMINGS. PUBLISHED BY HARCOURT INC.
by Carl Sandburg
LC5 02-05 p34-35 Poet FC
12/6/04
3:37 PM
Page 3
i carry
your heart
with me
by E.E. Cummings
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)
MEET THE
AUTHORS:
Carl Sandburg
BORN
1878 in Galesburg,
Illinois
DIED
1967 in Flat Rock,
North Carolina
JOBS
In addition to being a poet, Sandburg was
a journalist, folk musician, lecturer,
children’s author, and biographer. In his
youth he held a variety of odd jobs,
including shining shoes and delivering
milk. He also spent a year traveling across
the country as a hobo.
WHAT HE WROTE ABOUT
Sandburg was known as the poet of the
American people. He gave a powerful voice
to ordinary, working Americans, championing
their causes and celebrating their spirit.
PULITZER PRIZES
Sandburg was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes,
one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln
and a second for his Complete Poems.
E.E. Cummings
BORN
1894 in Cambridge,
Massachusetts
DIED
1962 in North Conway,
New Hampshire
HOME
His time was divided
between a farm in New Hampshire and an
apartment in New York City. He also made
frequent trips to Paris.
MEANS OF EXPRESSION
Cummings was not only a poet but also a
visual artist, novelist, and playwright.
POETIC STYLE
Cummings is known for his innovative use of
form and technique, and the strong visual
aspect of his poetry. His unconventional use
of capitalization kindled the myth that he had
legally changed his name to “e.e. cummings.”
Literary Cavalcade FEBRUARY 2005
35