“O sweet spontaneous” Summary

“O sweet spontaneous” Themes

• 

  Nature vs. Human Belief Systems

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “O sweet spontaneous”

• Lines 1-5

  O sweet spontaneous
  earth how often have
  the
  doting
               fingers

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-10

  of
  prurient philosophers pinched
  and
  poked
  thee
  ,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-13

  has the naughty thumb
  of science prodded
  thy
          beauty

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-18

  how
  often have religions taken
  thee upon their scraggy knees
  squeezing and
  buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
  gods

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-24

           (but
  true
  to the incomparable
  couch of death thy
  rhythmic
  lover

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-27

               thou answerest
  them only with
                                spring)

  

  

  

  

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“O sweet spontaneous” Symbols

• 

  Spring

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“O sweet spontaneous” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Anthropomorphism

  

  

  

  

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“O sweet spontaneous” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Doting
• Prurient
• Thee
• Thy
• Scraggy
• Buffeting
• That thou mightest
• True
• Incomparable
• Thou answerest

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “O sweet spontaneous”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“O sweet spontaneous” Speaker

“O sweet spontaneous” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “O sweet spontaneous”

More “O sweet spontaneous” Resources

• External Resources

  • Tulips and Chimneys — Read the poem in its original context, as part of the collection Tulips and Chimneys (1923).

  • An Introduction to Cummings — Read the Poetry Foundation's introduction to the poet's work.

  • Modernism 101 — An introduction to the literary/arts movement with which Cummings is closely associated.

  • Cummings's Advice to Students — Listen to a short talk about poetry and self-expression, delivered by the poet himself.

  • The Poet as Painter — An introduction to Cummings's work as a visual artist.

  • The Poet's Life and Work — Read a biography of Cummings at Poets.org.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by E. E. Cummings

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