Analysis
"somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond" is a 1931 poem written by famed American poet, essayist, author, playwright, and painter E. E. Cummings. It was originally published in his popular poetry collection titled ViVa. As is the case with the majority of his poems, Cummings didn't officially give this poem a title; analysts and readers refer to it as "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond," since this is the first line of the poem, and they do this with all of Cummings's untitled works.
Typical of his usual style, the main theme of this poem is love, and some analysts have even said that this might, in fact, be one of Cummings's best and most influential love poems in his entire literary opus. The poem did receive some negative reviews as well, mainly about Cummings's somewhat confusing language and his disregard of proper grammar and punctuation. Cummings did this deliberately so that readers could better understand his emotional state and his thought process. The poem consists of five stanzas and doesn't follow a particular rhyme scheme, meter, or rhythm.
The whole poem is, basically, a love declaration by a speaker who explains to the readers how deep and powerful his love is for this person he seems to adore endlessly. Furthermore, the speaker tells us how this person has been able to change his view on life and how the love he feels for them has made him a different, happier person.
The speaker might actually be Cummings himself, as there are several instances in the poem where it seems that the speaker speaks from experience. Cummings incorporates rich imagery and some symbols which are usually associated with nature; thus, the speaker mentions the beauty of the rose, which is a flower commonly used in poetry and prose as a symbol of love and passion.
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