XAIPE

E. E. Cummings

Edited, with an Afterword, by George James Firmage

LIVERIGHT

New York • London

Adjusting type size may change line breaks. Landscape mode may help to preserve line breaks.

CONTENTS

Dedication

1  this(let’s remember)day died again and

2  hush)

3  purer than purest pure

4  this out of within itself moo

5  swim so now million many worlds in each

6  dying is fine)but Death

7  we miss you,jack—tactfully you(with one cocked

8  o

9  possibly thrice we glimpsed—

more likely twice

10  or who and who)

11  so many selves(so many fiends and gods

12  tw

13  chas sing does(who

14  out of more find than seeks

15  hair your a brook

16  if the

17  (swooning)a pillar of youngly

18  a(ncient)a

19  out of the mountain of his soul comes

20  goo-dmore-ning(en

21  jake hates

all the girls(the

22  when serpents bargain for the right to squirm

23  three wealthy sisters swore they’d never part:

24  one day a nigger

25  pieces(in darker

26  who sharpens every dull

27  “summer is over

28  noone” autumnal this great lady’s gaze

29  nine birds(rising

30  snow means that

31  infinite jukethrob smoke & swallow to dis

32  blossoming are people

33  if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit

34  a thrown a

35  light’s lives lurch

a once world quickly from rises

36  quick i the death of thing

37  F is for foetus(a

38  why must itself up every of a park

39  open his head,baby

40  i’m

41  whose are these(wraith a clinging with a wraith)

42  neither awake

43  o to be in finland

44  where’s Jack Was

45  when your honest redskin toma

46  a kike is the most dangerous

47  meet mr universe(who clean

48  &(all during the

49  this is a rubbish of human rind

50  no time ago

51  who were so dark of heart they might not speak,

52  to start,to hesitate;to stop

53  mighty guest of merely me

54  maybe god

55  (fea

56  a like a

57  (im)c-a-t(mo)

58  after screamgroa

59  the little horse is newlY

60  (nothing whichful about

61  if(touched by love’s own secret)we,like homing

62  in

63  honour corruption villainy holiness

64  the of an it ignoblest he

65  i thank You God for most this amazing

66  the great advantage of being alive

67  when faces called flowers float out of the ground

68  love our so right

69  now all the fingers of this tree(darling)have

70  blue the triangular why

71  luminous tendril of celestial wish

Afterword by George James Firmage

XAIPE

to

hildegarde

watson

1

this(let’s remember)day died again and

again;whose golden,crimson dooms conceive

an oceaning abyss of orange dream

larger than sky times earth:a flame beyond

soul immemorially forevering am—

and as collapsing that grey mind by wave

doom disappeared,out of perhaps(who knows?)

eternity floated a blossoming

(while anyone might slowly count to soon)

rose—did you see her?darling,did you(kiss

me)quickly count to never?you were wrong

—then all the way from perfect nowhere came

(as easily as we forget something)

livingest the imaginable moon

2

hush)

noones

are coming

out in the gloam

ing together are

standing together un

der a particular tree

are all breathing bright darkness to

gether are slowly all together

very magically smiling and if

we are not perfectly careful be

lieve me you and i’ll go strolling

right through these each illimit

able to speak very

softly altogeth

er miracu

lous citi

zens of

(hush

3

purer than purest pure

whisper of a whisper

so(big with innocence)

forgivingly a once

of eager glory,no

more miracle may grow

—childfully serious

flower of holiness

a pilgrim from beyond

the future’s future;and

immediate like some

newly remembered dream—

flaming a coolly bell

touches most mere until

(eternally)with(now)

luminous the shadow

of love himself:who’s we

—nor can you die or i

and every world,before

silence begins a star

4

this out of within itself moo

ving lump of twilight squirts a two

ne like nothing verdi slightly knu

as and some six cents hit the whigh

shaped hathole thangew yelps one shi

ly glad old unman who is eye

5

swim so now million many worlds in each

least less than particle of perfect dark—

how should a loudness called mankind unteach

whole infinite the who of life’s life(hark

what silence)?”   “Worlds? o no:i’m certain they’re

(look again)flowers.”   “Don’t worlds open and

worlds close?”   “Worlds do,but differently;or

as if worlds wanted us to understand

they’d never close(and open)if that fool

called everyone(or you or i)were wise.”

“You mean worlds may have better luck,some day?”

“Or worse!poor worlds;i mean they’re possible

—but” lifting “flowers” more all stars than eyes

“only are quite what worlds merely might be

6

dying is fine)but Death

?o

baby

i

wouldn’t like

Death if Death

were

good:for

when(instead of stopping to think)you

begin to feel of it,dying

’s miraculous

why?be

cause dying is

perfectly natural;perfectly

putting

it mildly lively(but

Death

is strictly

scientific

& artificial &

evil & legal)

we thank thee

god

almighty for dying

(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death

7

we miss you,jack—tactfully you(with one cocked

eyebrow)subtracting clichés un by un

till the god’s truth stands art-naked:you and the fact

that rotgut never was brewed which could knock you down

(while scotch was your breakfast every night all day)

a 3ringbrain you had and a circusheart

and we miss them more than any bright word may cry

—even the crackling spark of(hung in a)“fert

ig”

(tent-sky wholly wallendas)

ready were all

erect your yous to cross the chasm of time

lessness;but two dim disks of stare are still

wondering if the stunt was really a dream—

here’s,wherever you aren’t or are,good luck!

aberdeen plato-rabelais peter jack

8

o

the round

little man we

loved so isn’t

no!w

a gay of a

brave and

a true of a

who have

r

olle

d i

nt

o

n

o

w(he)re

9

possibly thrice we glimpsed—

more likely twice

that(once crammed into someone’s kitchenette)

wheezing bulgily world of genial plac

-idity(plus,out of much its misbutt-

oned trouserfly tumbling,faded five

or so lightyears of pyjamastring)

a(vastly and particularly)live

that undeluded notselfpitying

lover of all things excellently rare;

obsolete almost that phenomenon

(too gay for malice and too wise for fear)

of shadowy virtue and of sunful sin

namely(ford madox ford)and eke to wit

a human being

—let’s remember that

10

or who and who)

The distance is

more much than all

of timely space

(was and be will)

from beautiful

obvious to

Mere but one small

most of a rose

easily(while

will be goes was)

can travel this

or i and you

11

so many selves(so many fiends and gods

each greedier than every)is a man

(so easily one in another hides;

yet man can,being all,escape from none)

so huge a tumult is the simplest wish:

so pitiless a massacre the hope

most innocent(so deep’s the mind of flesh

and so awake what waking calls asleep)

so never is most lonely man alone

(his briefest breathing lives some planet’s year,

his longest life’s a heartbeat of some sun;

his least unmotion roams the youngest star)

—how should a fool that calls him “I” presume

to comprehend not numerable whom?

12

tw

o o

ld

o

nce upo

n

a(

n

o mo

re

)time

me

n

sit(l

oo

k)dre

am

13

chas sing does(who

,ins

tead,

smiles alw

ays a trifl

e

w

hile ironin

g!

nob odyknowswhos esh

?i

rt)n’t

14

out of more find than seeks

thinking,swim(opening)grow

are(me wander and nows to the

power of blueness)whos(ex-

plore my unreal in

-credible true each new

self)smile.   Eyes.   & we

remember:yes;we played with a piece of when

till it rolled behind forever, we touched a shy

animal called where and she disappeared.

Out of more(fingeryhands

me and whying)seek than finds

feeling(seize)floats(only by

only)a silence only made of,bird

15

air your a brook

(it through are gaze

the unguessed whys

by me at look)

swirls to engulf

(in which in soft)

firm who outlift

queries of self

pouring(alive

twice)and becomes

eithering dreams

the secret of

16

if the

green

opens

a little a

little

was

much and much

is

too if

the green robe

o

p

e

n

s

and two are

wildstrawberries

17

(swooning)a pillar of youngly

loveflesh topped

with danc

ing egghead strutstrolls

eager a(twice

by

Dizzying eyeplums

pun

ctured)moo

nface swimming

ly

dreamseems

(vivi

d

an O

of

milky tranceworld writhes

in

twi

nn

ingly scarlet woundsmile)

18

a(ncient)a

weigh

tless

puppet of once

man(clutched

by immense

the-seat-of-the

pants

inani

nvisible Fist)drifts

a

long conway

’s

unstreet with

treadwatering

nonlegs(strictly)smiling

19

out of the mountain of his soul comes

a keen pure silence)such hands can

build a(who are like ocean patient)dream’s

eternity(you feel behind this man

earth’s first sunrise)and his voice

is green like growing(is miraculous like

tomorrow)all around the self of this

being are growing stones(neither awake

are goddesses nor sleeping)since he’s young

with mysteries(each truly his more than

some eighty years through which that memory strolls)

and every ours for the mere worshipping

(as calmly as if aristide maillols

occurred with any ticking of a clock

20

goo-dmore-ning(en

ter)nize-aday(most

gently herculanean

my mortal)yoo

make sno eye kil

yoo(friend the laughing

grinning)we

no(smiling)strike

agains

De Big Boss

(crying)jew wop

rich poor(sing

ing)

He

no

care

so

what

yoo-gointa-doo?(ice

coal wood

man)nic

he like

wint-air

nic like ot-am

sum-air(young

old nic)

like spring yoo

un-air-stan?me

crazy

me like

evry-ting

21

jake hates

all the girls(the

shy ones,the bold

ones;the meek

proud sloppy sleek)

all except the cold

ones

paul scorns all

the girls(the

bright ones,the dim

ones;the slim

plump tiny tall)

all except the

dull ones

gus loves all the

girls(the

warped ones,the lamed

ones;the mad

moronic maimed)

all except

the dead ones

mike likes all the girls

(the

fat ones,the lean

ones;the mean

kind dirty clean)

all

except the green ones

22

when serpents bargain for the right to squirm

and the sun strikes to gain a living wage—

when thorns regard their roses with alarm

and rainbows are insured against old age

when every thrush may sing no new moon in

if all screech-owls have not okayed his voice

—and any wave signs on the dotted line

or else an ocean is compelled to close

when the oak begs permission of the birch

to make an acorn—valleys accuse their

mountains of having altitude—and march

denounces april as a saboteur

then we’ll believe in that incredible

unanimal mankind(and not until)

23

three wealthy sisters swore they’d never part:

Soul was(i understand)

seduced by Life;whose brother married Heart,

now Mrs Death.   Poor Mind

24

one day a nigger

caught in his hand

a little star no bigger

than not to understand

“i’ll never let you go

until you’ve made me white”

so she did and now

stars shine at night

25

pieces(in darker

than small is dirtiest

any city’s least

street)of mirror

lying are each(why

do people say it’s un

lucky to break one)

whole with sky

26

who sharpens every dull

here comes the only man

reminding with his bell

to disappear a sun

and out of houses pour

maids mothers widows wives

bringing this visitor

their very oldest lives

one pays him with a smile

another with a tear

some cannot pay at all

he never seems to care

he sharpens is to am

he sharpens say to sing

you’d almost cut your thumb

so right he sharpens wrong

and when their lives are keen

he throws the world a kiss

and slings his wheel upon

his back and off he goes

but we can hear him still

if now our sun is gone

reminding with his bell

to reappear a moon

27

“summer is over

—it’s no use demanding

that lending be giving;

it’s no good pretending

befriending means loving”

(sighs mind:and he’s clever)

“for all,yes for all

sweet things are until”

“spring follows winter:

as clover knows,maybe”

(heart makes the suggestion)

“or even a daisy—

your thorniest question

my roses will answer”

“but dying’s meanwhile”

(mind murmurs;the fool)

“truth would prove truthless

and life a mere pastime

—each joy a deceiver,

and sorrow a system—

if now than forever

could never(by breathless

one breathing)be” soul

“more” cries:with a smile

28

noone” autumnal this great lady’s gaze

enters a sunset “can grow(gracefully or

otherwise)old.   Old may mean anything

which everyone would rather not become;

but growing is” erect her whole life smiled

“was and will always remain:who i am.

Look at these(each serenely welcoming

his only and illimitably his

destiny)mountains!how can each” while flame

crashed “be so am and i and who?each grows”

then in a whisper,as time turned to dream

“and poets grow;and(there—see?)children” nor

might any earth’s first morning have concealed

so unimaginably young a star

29

nine birds(rising

through a gold moment)climb:

ing i

-nto

wintry

twi-

light

(all together a

manying

one

-ness)nine

souls

only alive with a single mys-

tery(liftingly

caught upon falling)silent!

ly living the dying of glory

30

snow means that

life is a black cannonadin

g into silenc

e go

lliw

og-dog)life

?

tree3ghosts

are Is A eyes

Strange

known

Face

(whylaughing!among:skydiamonds

31

infinite jukethrob smoke & swallow to dis

gorge)

a sulky gob with entirely white

eyes of elsewhere

jabber while(infinite

fog & puking jukepulse hug)large less

than more magnetic pink unwhores

a wai

ter lugs his copious whichwhat skilfully here

&(simply infinite)there &

(smoke)a fair

y socked flopslump(& juke)ing shrieks Yew May

n’t Dew Thiz Tew Mee

as somebody’s almost moth

er folds(but infinite)gently up

the with

a carroty youth blonde whis(gorgedis reswal

lowing spewnonspew clutch)pers again & again

(jukejog mist & strict)

& again

(ly infin)

It’s Snowing Isn’t That Perfectly Wonderful

32

blossoming are people

nimbler than Really

go whirling into gaily

white thousands return

by millions and dreaming

drift hundreds come swimming

(Each a keener secret

than silence even tells)

all the earth has turned to sky

are flowers neither why nor how

when is now and which is Who

and i am you are i am we

(pretty twinkle merry bells)

Someone has been born

everyone is noone

dance around the snowman

33

if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit

(holding a red candle over his head

by a finger of trunk,and singing out of a red

book)on a proud round cloud in a white high night

where his heartlike ears have flown adorable him

self tail and all(and his tail’s red christmas bow)

—and if,when we meet again,little he(having flown

even higher)is sunning his penguinsoul in the glow

of a joy which wasn’t and isn’t and won’t be words

while possibly not(at a guess)quite half way down

to the earth are leapandswooping tinily birds

whose magical gaiety makes your beautiful name—

i feel that(false and true are merely to know)

Love only has ever been,is,and will ever be,So

34

a thrown a

-way It

with some-

thing sil

-very

;bright,&:mys(

a thrown a-

way

X

-mas)ter-

i

-ous wisp A of glo-

ry.pr

-ettily

cl(tr)in(ee)gi-

ng

35

light’s lives lurch

a once world quickly from rises

army the gradual of unbeing(fro

on stiffening greenly air and to ghosts go

drift slippery hands tease slim float twitter faces)

only stand with me,love!against these its

until you are and until i am dreams

until comes vast dark until sink last things

(least all turns almost now;now almost swims

into a hair’s width:into less?into

not)

love,stand with me while silence sings

not into nothing and nothing into never

and never into(touch me!love)forever

—until is and shall be and was are night’s

total exploding millionminded Who

36

quick i the death of thing

glimpsed(and on every side

swoop mountains flimsying

become if who’d)

me under a opens

(of petals of silence)

hole bigger than

never to have been

what above did was

always fall

(yes but behind yes)

without or until

no atom couldn’t die

(how and am quick i

they’ll all not conceive

less who than love)

37

F is for foetus(a

punkslapping

mobsucking

gravypissing poppa but

who just couldn’t help it no

matter how hard he never tried)the

great pink

superme

diocri

ty of

a hyperhypocritical D

mocra

c(sing

down with the fascist beast

boom

boom)two eyes

for an eye four

teeth for a tooth

(and the wholly babble open at

blessed are the peacemuckers)

$ $ $ etc(as

the boodle’s bent is the

crowd inclined it’s

freedom from freedom

the common man wants)

honey swoRkey mollypants

38

why must itself up every of a park

anus stick some quote statue unquote to

prove that a hero equals any jerk

who was afraid to dare to answer “no”?

quote citizens unquote might otherwise

forget(to err is human;to forgive

divine)that if the quote state unquote says

“kill” killing is an act of christian love.

“Nothing” in 1944 A D

“can stand against the argument of mil

itary necessity” (generalissimo e)

and echo answers “there is no appeal

from reason” (freud)—you pays your money and

you doesn’t take your choice.   Ain’t freedom grand

39

open his head,baby

& you’ll find a heart in it

(cracked)

open that heart,mabel

& you’ll find a bed in it

(fact)

open this bed,sibyl

& you’ll find a tart in it

(wed)

open the tart,lady

& you’ll find his mind in it

(dead)

40

i’m

asking

you dear to

what else could a

no but it doesn’t

of course but you don’t seem

to realize i can’t make

it clearer war just isn’t what

we imagine but please for god’s O

what the hell yes it’s true that was

me but that me isn’t me

can’t you see now no not

any christ but you

must understand

why because

i am

dead

41

whose are these(wraith a clinging with a wraith)

ghosts drowning in supreme thunder?ours

(over you reels and me a moon;beneath,

bombed the by ocean earth bigly shudders)

never was death so alive:chaos so(hark

—that screech of space)absolute(my soul

tastes If as some world of a spark

’s gulped by illimitable hell)

and never have breathed such miracle murdered we

whom cannot kill more mostful to arrive

each(futuring snowily which sprints for the

crumb of our Now)twiceuponatime wave—

put out your eyes,and touch the black skin

of an angel named imagination

42

neither awake

(there’s your general

yas buy gad)

nor asleep

booted & spurred

with an apish grin

(extremely like

but quite absurd

gloved fist on hip

& the scowl of a cannibal)

there’s your mineral

general animal

(five foot five)

neither dead

nor alive

(in real the rain)

43

o to be in finland

now that russia’s here)

swing low

sweet ca

rr

y on

(pass the freedoms pappy or

uncle shylock not interested

44

where’s Jack Was

General Was

the hero of the Battle of Because

he’s squatting

in the middle of remember

with his rotten old forgotten

full of why

(rub-her-bub)

bub?

(bubs)

where’s Jim Soon

Admiral Soon

the saviour of the Navy of the Moon

he’s swooning

at the bottom of the ocean

of forever with a never

in his fly

(rub-her-bub)

bub?

(bubs)

where’s John Big

Doughgob Big

pastmaster of the Art of Jigajig

sitting pretty

on the top of notwithstanding

with his censored up a wench’s

rock-a-bye

(rub-her-bub)

bub?

(bubs)

45

when your honest redskin toma

hawked and scalped his victim ,

not to save a world for stalin

was he aiming ;

spare the child and spoil the rod

quoth the palmist .

46

a kike is the most dangerous

machine as yet invented

by even yankee ingenu

ity(out of a jew a few

dead dollars and some twisted laws)

it comes both prigged and canted

47

meet mr universe(who clean

and jerked 300 lbs)i mean

observe his these regard his that(sh)

who made the world’s best one hand snatch

48

&(all during the

dropsin

king god my sic

kly a thingish o crashdis

appearing con ter fusion ror collap

sing thatthis is whichwhat yell itfulls o

f cringewiltdroolery i

mean really th

underscream ofsudde

nly perishing eagerly everyw

here shutting forever&forever fol

ding int

o absolute gone &

positive quite n

ever&bi

g screeching new black perfectly isn

’t)one rose opened

49

this is a rubbish of human rind

with a photograph

clutched in the half

of a hand and the word

love underlined

this is a girl who died in her mind

with a warm thick scream

and a keen cold groan

while the gadgets purred

and the gangsters dined

this is a deaf dumb church and blind

with an if in its soul

and a hole in its life

where the young bell tolled

and the old vine twined

this is a dog of no known kind

with one white eye

and one black eye

and the eyes of his eyes

are as lost as you’ll find

50

no time ago

or else a life

walking in the dark

i met christ

jesus)my heart

flopped over

and lay still

while he passed(as

close as i’m to you

yes closer

made of nothing

except loneliness

51

who were so dark of heart they might not speak,

a little innocence will make them sing;

teach them to see who could not learn to look

—from the reality of all nothing

will actually lift a luminous whole;

turn sheer despairing to most perfect gay,

nowhere to here,never to beautiful:

a little innocence creates a day.

And something thought or done or wished without

a little innocence,although it were

as red as terror and as green as fate,

greyly shall fail and dully disappear—

but the proud power of himself death immense

is not so as a little innocence

52

to start,to hesitate;to stop

(kneeling in doubt:while all

skies fall)and then to slowly trust

T upon H,and smile

could anything be pleasanter

(some big dark little day

which seems a lifetime at the least)

except to add an A?

henceforth he feels his pride involved

(this i who’s also you)

and nothing less than excellent

E will exactly do

next(our great problem nearly solved)

we dare adorn the whole

with a distinct grandiloquent

deep D;while all skies fall

at last perfection,now and here

—but look:not sunlight?yes!

and(plunging rapturously up)

we spill our masterpiece

53

mighty guest of merely me

—traveller from eternity;

in a single wish,receive

all i am and dream and have.

Be thou gay by dark and day:

gay as only truth is gay

(nothing’s false,in earth in air

in water and in fire,but fear—

mind’s a coward;lies are laws)

laugh,and make each no thy yes:

love;and give because the why

—gracious wanderer,be thou gay

54

maybe god

is a child

’s hand)very carefully

bring

-ing

to you and to

me(and quite with

out crushing)the

papery weightless diminutive

world

with a hole in

it out

of which demons with wings would be streaming if

something had(maybe they couldn’t

agree)not happened(and floating-

ly int

o

55

(fea

therr

ain

:dreamin

g field o

ver forest &;

wh

o could

be

so

!f!

te

r?n

oo

ne)

56

a like a

grey

rock wanderin

g

through

pasture

wom

an creature whom

than

earth hers

elf

could

silent more no

be

57

(im)c-a-t(mo)

b,i;l:e

FallleA

ps!fl

OattumblI

sh?dr

IftwhirlF

(Ul)(lY)

&&&

away wanders:exact

ly;as if

not

hing had,ever happ

ene

D

58

after screamgroa

ning.ish:ly;

come

(s

gruntsqueak

,while,

idling-is-grindstone

one;what:of.thumb

stutt(er(s a)mu)ddied

bushscytheblade

“pud-dih-gud”

)S

creang

roami

ngis

59

the little horse is newlY

Born)he knows nothing,and feels

everything;all around whom is

perfectly a strange

ness(Of sun

light and of fragrance and of

Singing)is ev

erywhere(a welcom

ing dream:is amazing)

a worlD.and in

this world lies:smoothbeautifuL

ly folded;a(brea

thing and a gro

Wing)silence,who;

is:somE

oNe.

60

(nothing whichful about

thick big this

friendly

himself of

a boulder)nothing

mean in tenderly

whoms

of sizeless a

silence by noises

called people called

sunlight

(elsewhere flat the mechanical

itmaking

sickness of mind sprawls)

here

a livingly free mysterious

dreamsoul floatstands

oak by birch by maple

pine

by hemlock spruce by

tamarack(

nothing pampered puny

impatient

and nothing

ignoble

)everywhere wonder

61

if(touched by love’s own secret)we,like homing

through welcoming sweet miracles of air

(and joyfully all truths of wing resuming)

selves,into infinite tomorrow steer

—souls under whom flow(mountain valley forest)

a million wheres which never may become

one(wholly strange;familiar wholly)dearest

more than reality of more than dream—

how should contented fools of fact envision

the mystery of freedom?yet,among

their loud exactitudes of imprecision,

you’ll(silently alighting)and i’ll sing

while at us very deafly a most stares

colossal hoax of clocks and calendars

62

in

Spring comes(no-

one

asks his name)

a mender

of things

with eager

fingers(with

patient

eyes)re

-new-

ing remaking what

other

-wise we should

have

thrown a-

way(and whose

brook

-bright flower-

soft bird

-quick voice loves

children

and sunlight and

mountains)in april(but

if he should

Smile)comes

nobody’ll know

63

honour corruption villainy holiness

riding in fragrance of sunlight(side by side

all in a singing wonder of blossoming yes

riding)to him who died that death should be dead

humblest and proudest eagerly wandering

(equally all alive in miraculous day)

merrily moving through sweet forgiveness of spring

(over the under the gift of the earth of the sky.

knight and ploughman pardoner wife and nun

merchant frere clerk somnour miller and reve

and geoffrey and all)come up from the never of when

come into the now of forever come riding alive

down while crylessly drifting through vast most

nothing’s own nothing children go of dust

64

the of an it ignoblest he

to nowhere from arrive

human the most catastrophe

april might make alive

filthy some past imagining

whowhich of mad rags strode

earth ignorantly blossoming

a scarecrow demongod

countless in hatred pity fear

each more exactly than

the other un good people stare

for it or he is one

65

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)

66

the great advantage of being alive

(instead of undying)is not so much

that mind no more can disprove than prove

what heart may feel and soul may touch

—the great(my darling)happens to be

that love are in we,that love are in we

and here is a secret they never will share

for whom create is less than have

or one times one than when times where—

that we are in love,that we are in love:

with us they’ve nothing times nothing to do

(for love are in we am in i are in you)

this world(as timorous itsters all

to call their cowardice quite agree)

shall never discover our touch and feel

—for love are in we are in love are in we;

for you are and i am and we are(above

and under all possible worlds)in love

a billion brains may coax undeath

from fancied fact and spacefill time—

no heart can leap,no soul can breathe

but by the sizeless truth of a dream

whose sleep is the sky and the earth and the sea.

For love are in you am in i are in we

67

when faces called flowers float out of the ground

and breathing is wishing and wishing is having—

but keeping is downward and doubting and never

—it’s april(yes,april;my darling)it’s spring!

yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly

yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be

(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound

and wishing is having and having is giving—

but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense

—alive; we’re alive,dear:it’s(kiss me now)spring!

now the pretty birds hover so she and so he

now the little fish quiver so you and so i

(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found

and having is giving and giving is living—

but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing

—it’s spring(all our night becomes day)o,it’s spring!

all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky

all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea

(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

68

love our so right

is,all(each thing

most lovely)sweet

things cannot spring

but we be they’ll

some or if where

shall breathe a new

(silverly rare

goldenly so)

moon,she is you

nothing may,quite

your my(my your

and)self without,

completely dare

be beautiful

one if should sing

(at yes of day)

younger than young

bird first for joy,

he’s i he’s i

69

now all the fingers of this tree(darling)have

hands,and all the hands have people;and

more each particular person is(my love)

alive than every world can understand

and now you are and i am now and we’re

a mystery which will never happen again,

a miracle which has never happened before—

and shining this our now must come to then

our then shall be some darkness during which

fingers are without hands;and i have no

you:and all trees are(any more than each

leafless)its silent in forevering snow

—but never fear(my own,my beautiful

my blossoming)for also then’s until

70

blue the triangular why

of a dream(with

crazily

eyes of window)may

be un

less it

were(floati

ng through

never)a kite

like face of

the child who’s

every

child(&

therefore invisible)anyhow you

’ve(whoever

we are)stepped carefully o

ver(& i)some

newer

than life(or than

death)is on

f

ilthi

es

t

sidewalk blossoming glory

71

luminous tendril of celestial wish

(whying diminutive bright deathlessness

to these my not themselves believing eyes

adventuring,enormous nowhere from)

querying affirmation;virginal

immediacy of precision:more

and perfectly more most ethereal

silence through twilight’s mystery made flesh—

dreamslender exquisite white firstful flame

—new moon!as(by the miracle of your

sweet innocence refuted)clumsy some

dull cowardice called a world vanishes,

teach disappearing also me the keen

illimitable secret of begin

AFTERWORD

by

George James Firmage

The title of E. E. Cummings’ tenth “bookofpoems” is the Greek salutation “χαιρε.” It means “greetings” or “rejoice” and, in its simplest English transliteration, can be written as “khi-ra” with the accent on the first syllable.

According to his letter of August 23,1949, to Ezra Pound, Cummings “spent several months persuading (espérons) 71 poems to make 1 book who called himself xaîpe. Now et comment,” he continued, “The quote Oxford unquote Press registers alarm nudging horror; poems are nonsellable enough (paraît) without calling the poembook by some foreign word which no Good-American could either spell or pronounce.”[1] This would explain the presence of the subtitle “seventy-one poems” in the edition as published by Oxford on March 30, 1950. As Cummings later recalled, “the publisher . . . was responsible for this addendum.”[2]

XAIPE is dedicated to Hildegarde Watson, the wife of Cummings’ lifelong friend James Sibley Watson, Jr. It was Watson who, together with Scofield Thayer, took over The Dial in 1919 and changed it into a vigorous monthly magazine devoted to “art and literature.” The first issue of the newly constituted periodical appeared in January 1920 and marked the professional debut of E. E. Cummings as a poet and an artist.

With a single exception, the present edition of XAIPE is based on the poet’s final and complete typescript,[3] and two sets of corrected proofs and a list of “ERRORS”[4] prepared for the book’s first publisher which are all in the Houghton Library, Harvard University. The exception, poem 59, is stylistically inconsistent in its use of the parenthesis. The version published here has been corrected against an earlier manuscript in the Houghton’s collection.[5]

1. Selected Letters of E. E. Cummings (New York: Harcourt Brace & World, Inc., 1969), p. 193.

2. Charles Norman, The Magic-Maker: E. E. Cummings (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1958), p. 381.

3. bMs Am 1823.4 (98).

4. bMs Am 1823.4 (101) and bMs Am 1823.4 (102).

5. bMs Am 1823.5 (353).

E. E. Cummings, along with Pound, Eliot, and Williams, helped bring about the twentieth-century revolution in literary expression. He is recognized as the author of some of the most beautiful lyric poems written in the English language and also as one of the most inventive American poets of his time. Fresh and candid, by turns earthy, tender, defiant, and romantic, Cummings' poems celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, the need to protest the dehumanizing force of organizations, and the exuberant power of love.

XAIPE (Greek for “rejoice”), which first appeared in 1950, contains some of E. E. Cummings' finest work. Among many others can be found “dying is fine)but Death,” “so many selves(so many fiends and gods,” “when serpents bargain for the right to squirm,” “no time ago,” “i thank You God for most this amazing,” and “now all the fingers of this tree(darling)have.”

Liveright publishes E. E. Cummings’ Complete Poems 1904–1962, edited by George James Firmage, in a clothbound edition; Selected Poems, edited by Richard S. Kennedy, in paperback; and the following individual paperback volumes: Is 5, Tulips & Chimneys, ViVa, XAIPE (each newly offset from the Complete Poems), The Enormous Room, all edited by George James Firmage, and Etcetera, edited by Mr. Firmage and Richard S. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy’s biography of E. E. Cummings, Dreams in the Mirror, is also available in a Liveright paperback edition.

By E. E. Cummings

In Liveright paperback

The Enormous Room

Etcetera: The Unpublished Poems

is 5

Selected Poems

Tulips & Chimneys

ViVa

XAIPE

In Liveright Clothbound

Complete Poems 1904-1962

Reissued in Liveright paperback 1997

Copyright 1950 by E. E. Cummings

Copyright © 1979, 1978, 1973 by Nancy T. Andrews

Copyright © 1979, 1973 by George James Firmage

All rights reserved

The Library of Congress has Cataloged the printed editon as follows:

Cummings, Edward Estlin, 1894–1962.

(Chaire.)

χαιρε

(The Cummings typescript editions)

In English.

I. Firmage, George James. II. Title. III. Series.

PS3505.U334C5    1979    811’. 5    79–1506

ISBN 0-87140-168-1

ISBN 978-0-87140-294-3 (e-book)

Liveright Publishing Corporation

500 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10110

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

Table of Contents

Title

Contents

1 this(let’s remember)day died again and

2 hush)

3 purer than purest pure

4 this out of within itself moo

5 swim so now million many worlds in each

6 dying is fine)but Death

7 we miss you,jack—tactfully you(with one cocked

8 o

9 possibly thrice we glimpsed— more likely twice

10 or who and who)

11 so many selves(so many fiends and gods

12 tw

13 chas sing does(who

14 out of more find than seeks

15 hair your a brook

16 if the

17 (swooning)a pillar of youngly

18 a(ncient)a

19 out of the mountain of his soul comes

20 goo-dmore-ning(en

21 jake hates all the girls(the

22 when serpents bargain for the right to squirm

23 three wealthy sisters swore they’d never part:

24 one day a nigger

25 pieces(in darker

26 who sharpens every dull

27 “summer is over

28 noone” autumnal this great lady’s gaze

29 nine birds(rising

30 snow means that

31 infinite jukethrob smoke & swallow to dis

32 blossoming are people

33 if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit

34 a thrown a

35 light’s lives lurch a once world quickly from rises

36 quick i the death of thing

37 F is for foetus(a

38 why must itself up every of a park

39 open his head,baby

40 i’m

41 whose are these(wraith a clinging with a wraith)

42 neither awake

43 o to be in finland

44 where’s Jack Was

45 when your honest redskin toma

46 a kike is the most dangerous

47 meet mr universe(who clean

48 &(all during the

49 this is a rubbish ofhuman rind

50 no time ago

51 who were so dark of heart they might not speak,

52 to start,to hesitate;to stop

53 mighty guest of merely me

54 maybe god

55 (fea

56 a like a

57 (im)c-a-t(mo)

58 after screamgroa

59 the little horse is newlY

60 (nothing whichful about

61 if(touched by love’s own secret)we,like homing

62 in

63 honour corruption villainy holiness

64 the of an it ignoblest he

65 i thank You God for most this amazing

66 the great advantage of being alive

67 when faces called flowers float out of the ground

68 love our so right

69 now all the fingers of this tree(darling)have

70 blue the triangular why

71 luminous tendril of celestial wish

Afterword by George James Firmage

Also by E. E. Cummings

About the Author

About the book

Copyright