Sunday, March 10, 2013

You Are Tired (I Think) by E.E. Cummings

You Are Tired (I Think)
By E.E. Cummings

You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.

Come with me, then,
And we'll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)

You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.

But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—
Open to me!
For I will show you the places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.

Ah, come with me!
I'll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I'll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.

Analysis:
  • The poem is a man offering a woman to run away with him. However the offer to run away is not as important to the meaning of the poem as is what they are running away from. The speaker guesses that the woman is tired, tired of always moving in a busy life style and tired of things that break, such as a broken heart. The speakers offer is filled with temptation to leave behind everything one wishes they could stop and take a break from and to find a better place where they can be happy.
Theme:
  • The theme of the poem is that everyone needs a break now and then. Life can get boring and dull and sometimes one needs to escape to a place where they can rest and be happy.
Personal Connection:
  • I liked this poem because it was relatable to a lot of people. Most people at some point in there lives need a break from their lives at some point and wish they could be whisked away to another place just to take a break.

4 comments:

  1. No, no, no. You entirely missed the point of this poem. This is not about going anywhere. This is about two people who find each other later in life after they have been with other people and even married and divorced, more than once perhaps. Both believe in the true love, the one true and deep love, but they have never found it until now. A man or a woman that reads this and has experienced such a late find of the love of his/her life will melt when reading it. Knowing of EE and that he met his true love in his 40s after two marriages, this is autobiographical. By coming away with him, it is all in their hearts. It's the soft language where pretense is lost and utter respect for the moment and the other are paramount. The (I thinks) are the way to show deference even when both know where the other person's heart is. This is one of the most powerful EEC poems....so real.

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  2. This is a poem about suicide - Death beckoning the person to go through with it, or someone attempting to talk someone else into a suicide pact.

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  3. I think that this poem is about death. The poem is from the perspective of death as it beckons, whispering into the subjects ear.

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