by Lily Seabrooke

Created on: March 19, 2008

Poetry rarely deals with happiness and joy, and instead often seems preoccupied with the ills of society. This is particularly evident in e.e. Cummings work, a prominent transcendentalist, supporting the idea of a spiritual reality that is above the scientific, and an accomplished satirist.

Satire, being the definitive of irony, sarcasm or caustic wit used to attack or expose idiocy, debauchery or stupidity, or the branch of literature consisting of such works, is a prominent theme to Cummings poetry. He utilizes irony in particular, expressing something different from and often opposite to its literal meaning. Cummings is emphatic on the values and ideas expressed in his poetry, but chooses to outline the main concerns through application of various poetic techniques, and thus creating a layered effect in the meaning. Frequently, although his poems may appear to be lighthearted, they are laced with undertones of his criticism of society and the materialistic values held today. "I sing of Olaf glad and big", "pity this busy monster, manunkind", and "next to of course god America I" are excellent examples of Cummings employment of satire, scrutinizing human vice and stupidity that are an obtrusive feature of our nature and thus society.

"I sing of Olaf, glad and big" is a satire on war, patriotism and societies values. It tells of the kind of treatment one who is soft hearted can expect to receive in the American army, contradicting its glorified and patriotic image. Cummings compares it to the Nazi's in different lines. "a yearning nations blueeyed pride", mocks the blatant patriotism of America, and references it to the aerean' race that Hitler aimed to achieve, also in the last line "more blond that you". The poem also dictates the truth of what sort of action is accepted and employed by those "most succinctly bred". Olaf, the unconformist, is abused and beaten until he is "to all intents a corpse", all in the supposed name of patriotism and authority of the educated, those "kindred intellects".

In the next verse, an undertone of rape is present, but the courage of Olaf in standing up for his own moral conviction in the face of adversity is evident. Despite this, he is called a "yellowsonofabitch", a coward because he did not agree with the truth and ideology of war. The last verse of the poem reveals the main concerns of the poem, "preponderatingly because unless statistics lie he was more brave then me:more blond than you". Cummings criticizes the way men

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