[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

So I’ve always thought of ee cummings as a highly interesting poet. His aversion toward capital letters, which is overcompensated by his relentless use of seemingly unnecessary punctuation is fascinating. These attributes, however clever, also make interpreting his poems somewhat of a chore. I heard his poem, [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in], read at a wedding I attended in August. The reader did a beautiful job, and it was a perfect choice for a wedding, but I couldn’t help but think there is more to this poem than we hear when listening to it or see when reading it. After contemplating this notion for several hours I finally came to the conclusion the poem must be just one side of a phone conversation between a very sappy speaker and his (or her) dedicated, but dense lover. In order to clear up possible misconceptions, I’ve rewritten the poem so that finally, after all these years, the other side of the conversation is heard as well.

I realize not everyone has heard this poem before so first, I’ll present the entire poem in cummings’ original wording.  Here it is:

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

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)

“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” Copyright 1952, © 1980, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from Complete Poems: 1904-1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage.

Now, for the real version, with both sides of the conversation heard for the first time. I’ve named the speaker of the poem Sappy Speaker, and his rather dense love Clarifying Clara. Here it goes…

Phone rings.

Clarifying Clara: Hello?

Sappy Speaker: i carry your heart with me

Clarifying Clara: Oh, hi Sweetie. That’s certainly an interesting thought, where do you carry it?

Sappy Speaker: (i carry it in my heart)

CC: Oh, okay.

SS: i am never without it

CC: What do you mean by that, doesn't it get heavy?

SS: (anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)

CC: Really? That’s interesting, because I’m pretty sure when you went to poker night last Thursday without telling me that was not exactly my doing.

SS: i fear no fate

CC: Not even death? I guess you didn’t really fear death when you decided to hang out with the guys last Thursday because I was ready to kill you, but seriously, I would have been okay with it if you just told me where you were going.

SS: (for you are my fate,my sweet)

CC: Ah, well that's so lovely, Sugar.

SS: i want no world

CC: Then where would we live, Darling? I’m pretty sure we’re not going to get Richard Branson to take us out of here in his new spaceship.

SS: (for beautiful you are my world,my true)

CC: Okay, now you’re just making me blush.

SS: and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

SS: here is the deepest secret nobody knows

CC: Just how deep is it? I'm not so sure.

SS: (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)

CC: Wow, now that is deep.

SS: and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

CC: Is it what the scientists call Dark Matter, because I’m pretty sure I saw a special on PBS last week about…

SS: i carry your heart

CC: Where do you carry it again? I know you don't haul around a man-tote.

SS: (i carry it in my heart)

CC: Oh yeah, that's right. Hey, would you mind picking up some milk on the way home? We’re running low and I really want to try that new organic cereal for breakfast tomorrow. Okay, I love you too, bye.