“since feeling is first” Introduction

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“since feeling is first” Summary

“since feeling is first” Themes

• 

  Feeling vs. Thinking

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• 

  Love and Appreciation

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “since feeling is first”

• Lines 1-4

  since feeling is first
  who pays any attention
  to the syntax of things
  will never wholly kiss you;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-7

  wholly to be a fool
  while Spring is in the world
  my blood approves,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-9

  and kisses are a better fate
  than wisdom

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-13

  lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
  – the best gesture of my brain is less than
  your eyelids’ flutter which says
  we are for each other;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  then
  laugh, leaning back in my arms
  for life’s not a paragraph
  And death i think is no parenthesis

  

  

  

  

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“since feeling is first” Symbols

• 

  Syntax and Writing

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• 

  Nature

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“since feeling is first” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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“since feeling is first” 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.

• Syntax
• Wholly
• Fate
• Swear
• Gesture
• Flutter
• Parenthesis

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “since feeling is first”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“since feeling is first” Speaker

“since feeling is first” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “since feeling is first”

More “since feeling is first” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a dramatic reading of the poem.

  • The Life of the Poet — Read more about E. E. Cummings in this concise overview of his life and work.

  • Cummings's Unique Style — Learn more about E. E. Cummings's innovative use of structure and form in his writing.

  • The Poet as a Painter — In addition to writing poetry, Cummings was also a skilled painter, as illustrated by this impressive self-portrait in the National Portrait Gallery!

  • A Stylized Approach — A New Yorker essay by the poet Paul Muldoon about Cummings's characteristically strange – but very intentional – stylistic decisions.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by E. E. Cummings

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