A poem by E.E. Cummings

From the Poetry Speaks calendar, 20 July. All punctuation errors are the fault of the poet: Cummings is notorious for these things.


maggie and milly and molly and may
By E.E. Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea


On the reading for 19 July, Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno commented:

The mystery that is identity is the focus of 'Maggie, Milly, Molly, and May': the four girls are described as who they are by what they find at the beach. The sing-song of the rhyme belies the deeper intent, which is that who we are determines what we seek out in life. What the girls find, in some sense, is predetermined by our own natures, for the objects retrieved are neutral. It is what we see in them that create their value. Or, as the last couplet concludes, 'For whatever you lose (like a you or a me)/it's always ourselves we find in the sea.'