e e cummings

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

no man,if men are gods;but if gods must
be men,the sometimes only man is this
(most common,for each anguish is his grief;
and,for his joy is more than joy,most rare)

a fiend,if fiends speak truth;if angels burn

by their own generous completely light,
an angel;or(as various worlds he'll spurn
rather than fail immeasurable fate)
coward,clown,traitor,idiot,dreamer,beast--
such was a poet and shall be and is

--who'll solve the depths of horror to defend
a sunbeam's architecture with his life:
and carve immortal jungles of despair
to hold a mountain's heartbeat in his hand

Comments

[ulysses83.livejournal.com]

What book did this come from, do you know? I remember reading e e cummings in middle school and high school as part of your standard education, but we never read anything like that or at least it's only recently that I have the patience of thought for cummings.