next to of course god america i

e e cummings

 "next to of course god america i
 love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
 say can you see by the dawn's early my
 country 'tis of centuries come and go
 and are no more what of it we should worry
 in every language even deafanddumb
 thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
 by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
 why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
 iful than these heroic happy dead
 who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
 they did not stop to think they died instead
 then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

 He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

Commentary

Here’s one for the Fourth of July1. This poem speaks for itself and to us (or at least to me) now and further comment is perhaps unnecessary. It’s amazing how some things never change – or maybe life imitates art. Note the rhymes (especially “beaut”/”mute”!) and that he is playing with sonnets here.

— Vivian

  1. Sorry, we’re late as usual - ed. ↩

The Wondering Minstrels, poem #1072 · 11 July 2002

Guest poem submitted by Vivian Eden

Fair use

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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.

Amit Chakrabarti · 11 July 2002

This shoots up to very high on my list of poems. Great submission! -Amit

chitowngrls82 · 26 March 2003

This is hilarious how true this is ringing to this very second. People feed off of propoganda and patriotic slogans. I mean how powerful is it to put those pieces together to see what they are. This piece does speak for itself, but I guess that is only if you have an open mind and are not apt to fall for political garbage.

Rdobrick · 9 April 2008

One of my favorites from my favorite poet. Some things in life never change.