Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

Youthful Passion Over Reason

e.e. cummings was heavily influenced by the Romantic period and the literary works that were

borne of it. By definition, Romanticism emphasized the importance of the creative spirit over

strict adherence to literary rules and traditional procedure, utilizing free imagination as a

gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual awakening (Encyclopædia Britannica 2016,

p.1). It is clear in his poetry that Cummings values romantic ideals and the primacy of faith,

intuition and emotion over reason. Just as he emphasises the importance of being young at

heart, cummings advocates embracing youthful passion over reason. Youth stereotypically,

trust their hearts, and act impulsively. Cummings advocates fighting against the rules and

regulations placed on us by society. As one gets older and begins to trust one’s reason over

passion, the resultant self-doubt can stop one from taking chances in their life. This inhibiting

self-doubt may reflect the irony of youth and paradoxical nature of our lives, as the solution

seems to be retaining youthful passion. This idea is shared in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (his fourth

soliloquy) where he comments on the ability of thought to paralyse action. He laments that

“enterprises of great pith and moment” are “sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,”

suggesting that too much reason can subvert significant enterprises.

Cummings presents this disregard for reason and appreciation of passion in since feeling is

first 8 through imagery that appeals to the readers very core. The title puts instinctual feeling

over secondary reason, urging readers to be young at heart and embrace the youthful spirit that

desires to just act. There is no point paying “attention to the syntax of things”, for rules and

reason will never be able to “kiss you”; they will not satisfy the emotion your body is made to

feel. The reality of the world lies within us and not within the rules we make for ourselves.

When things like “Spring [are] in the world”, there is nothing to do but embrace the growth

and beauty that surrounds one. The personification of the narrator’s blood suggests that feeling

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