The poetry of E. E. Cummings is incredibly unique in the
way that it uses language and apparently breaks fixed rules of English to challenge
readers and make us see objects and actions in completely different ways. You might want
to consider the use of imagery in this poem as an example of this. Note the way that the
poem talks about things "which i cannot touch because they are too near." The
paradoxical nature of this statment is obvious and helps us appreciate the metaphysical
nature of the style of this poem, which serve to reinforce the central aspects of
passion and love.
In addition, consider the way that the
"frail gesture" of the speaker's beloved can completely "unclose" him, in spite of her
lack of strength. Nature imagery is also used to express the power that the speaker's
passion for his lover has over him. Consider the following
example:
though i have closed myself as
fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring
opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first
rose
The speaker compares
himself to a flower and his lover to the force of the seasons and the weather in
unfurling his petals and forcing him to bud. Such imagery thus reinforces the strength
of the lover's power over the speaker, as she is able to wield such power over the
speaker in spite of the way in which the poem emphasises her weakness, frailty and
diminutive stature.
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