E.E. Cummings’ Poem Ripped by His Feedback Partner, F.F.
“i carry your heart with me” doesn’t cut it with collaborator
e.e.:
So far I’ve just got this first verse. Let me know if you’re feeling it:
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)
F.F.:
I hate to say it, but you lost me right off. What’s with that lower case “i”? It literally SCREAMS “low self-esteem.” You don’t want to start off sounding like a starving artist who can’t afford to repair his wonky shift key.
e.e.:
My shift key works fine. I was experimenting with a new style of . . . never mind, it’s hard to explain . . . How about the content? I’m onto something there, right??
F.F.:
If you mean my nerves, maybe. You’re gonna carry HER heart in YOUR heart? How’s that gonna work?? Why, even your largest chamber — that’d be your left ventricle — couldn’t possibly fit an entire —
e.e.:
It’s METAPHORICAL, man. I’m trying to get at how she’s just always there, you know, deep inside me, like a . . .
