since feeling is first by Edward Estlin Cummings: Summary and Analysis

since feeling is first is a short lyric poem by modern American poet E. E. Cumming. The breaking of the traditional typography corresponds with his desire to break the social norms and values and celebrate love in this poem.


E. E. Cummings (1894-1962)

The speaker in the poem is a lover and the lady in line 10 is his beloved, whom he is trying to convince to kiss him, laugh and lean in his arms. As the speaker focuses on the feelings than the conventional correct behavior, he persuades his lady to pay attention on the love not on the norms. The syntax of things metaphorically stands for those social norms and values. With this point, the lover convinces her that those who pays attention to those unnecessary norms will never be able to kiss wholly and deeply with love. He is sure that kisses which symbolizes love here is a better fate than the knowledge of the social norms and values. 

The lover speaker is of the view that when the Spring season which is the season of newness and freshness, fertility and production, is here his beloved should not cry and fully enjoy the season with love and kisses. He feels secure and confirmed that when her eyelids flutter they convey the message of their love being one.

He justifies himself by metaphorically presenting life and death as something unchangeable. He compares life inversely with a paragraph. It is not like a paragraph which we can change when the idea changes, nor is the death parenthesis. The inverse comparison of death with parenthesis presents death as something unavoidable. Since his life is unchangeable and death is sure to come, why hesitate to celebrate love and fall in love.

He uses linguistic diction like syntax, paragraph and parenthesis. His innovative style of syntax is in line two, where he says ‘who pays any attention…’ in an interrogative manner and there is an absence of a question mark. But the moment we reach to the line four, we cater the meaning of the poem and comes to the conclusion that this is not a question, just a statement. It is his typical style to break conventional pattern of syntax and uses his own free style. His poetic form and pattern too directly and indirectly support his meaning in the poem. He tries to convince his lady to break the set tradition of society to focus on the manner, and celebrate the love with kisses and hugs with the speaker.

Cumming in the fourth stanza says ‘life is not a paragraph’ which draws attention of many scholars. Here, life is inversely compared with the paragraph. Life is not all about writing and rewriting, but all about the experiences and feelings. Life is not as long as a paragraph as ‘death i think is no parenthesis.’ Since death a natural phenomenon which is certain to happen and unavoidable, life is too short. As life is short, the speaker wants his lady to avoid all the restrictions of society, lean on him, come in his arms and kiss him.