To me, “dive for dreams” by E.E. Cummings is the perfect example of a reverse poem in the difficulty sense. When looked at as a whole, it was quite simple, and seemed to be encouraging the reader to move past distractions and difficulty and follow their dreams. In fact, the meaning was quite cliche. Almost too cliche – and that is what drew me in. The poem made the most sense before I started to read closer and actually consider every word that Cummings used. The meaning was not obscured with fog – I was 80% sure the theme was something in the ballpark of motivation and living life to the fullest. Or maybe 60%. 

For all intents and purposes, the poem is quite straightforward, as far as E. E. Cummings’ poems go. However, what struck me as difficult in this poem was the second layer of meaning, and specifically the vocabulary he chose. As soon as I started reading, the word “slogan” threw me for a loop. All the slogans I had known were catchy sayings used in advertisements. Knowing this, I was confused as to the possible meaning of the word in this context. Upon further research, I realized “slogan” could actually be defined, according to Merriam-Webster, as any phrase expressing a goal. When I think of the word “goal”, I think of the word “lofty”, which lends itself to height or ambition. This grandiose diction stood out to me because of its contrast with the opening line, in which Cummings tells the audience, which is the reader, to “dive for dreams.” Initially reading that first sentence, I thought it could be a reference to two things: either Cummings was telling the reader they had to dive into their own psyche to figure out what their dreams were in the first place, or they had to dive deep and work hard to achieve whatever they wanted to do, which was the more cliche option. After seeing the contrast between the first and second line, however, I started lean towards a third option – that one has to treat their sense of determination like quicksand, and literally sink themselves into their goals so that the tempting call of a lofty, unattainable goal, does not disrupt the pursuit of a realistic one. 

As I continued reading on, my reading flow was interrupted by seventh and eighth lines – “(and live by love/though the stars walk backward)”. I immediately understood it was personification, but why would stars walk backward? After thinking about it for a while, my idea was that every night, the stars seem to walk backwards through the sky as the Earth moves towards daylight. Could Cummings be saying that we have to live by love even through the relentless and indifferent passing of time? Or, could it be more literal, and could Cummings be calling on the reader to trust their heart even “if the seas catch fire” or “the stars walk backward”, citing near-impossible events that would test the reader’s devotion to themself, which should be first and foremost in their life?

The E.E. Cummings poem we read in class, “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]”, heavily used parentheses as a sort of echo or chorus that shows the speaker’s deeper thoughts. The parentheses were also an important part of this poem, but I did not understand what function they served. The conclusion I eventually reached is that they serve a similar purpose to Cummings’ other poem, in the sense that they offer a metaphorical extension, or a deeper look at the line that came before. This relationship was especially apparent in the first stanza, where the imagery that the word “topple” induces is similar to the image of the wind blowing down a tree. The first two lines, “dive for dreams/or a slogan may topple you”, were a reference to holding your own, and not letting trivial distractions take away from your focus on your own goals. However, the next two lines, “(trees are their roots/and wind is wind)” use imagery to expand this idea in a less direct way. The way I interpreted this line, Cummings is implying that trees without roots are nothing but long sticks that are somehow standing. They have nothing grounding them, and nothing to keep them anchored when a big gust of wind comes. By saying that “wind is wind”, Cummings casually reinforces a basic truth. Wind is natural, and its purpose is to move, and to “topple”. The wind toppling a tree is perfectly unnatural, just like the seas catching fire or the stars walking backward. That just the wind could topple a 50 or 100-year-old tree seems impossible, but with no roots, it’s no wonder the tree is that weak.

As I said before, I don’t think the theme of this poem is the most difficult part to uncover. What makes this poem more difficult than the ones we all read in fourth grade is the way Cummings uses imagery to develop the theme of self-love and living life the best we can with the time we still have left. One of my favorite lines of the poem is in the third stanza – “and dance your death/away at this wedding”. As I kept reading this poem through, this line was the one I kept coming back to. The alliteration in the first line drew me in with the way it connected dancing and death – one associated with vitality, and one with mortality. Dancing and death seem to have nothing in common, but dancing at a wedding is something that conjures feelings of joy and celebration. In my eyes, what Cummings is trying to say here is that by living life for your own enjoyment and ignoring the ever-present idea of death, we can all prolong our life. Maybe we will not live 15 more years, but we sure will feel like we accomplished a lot more if we were happy. 

Although analyzing the poem deeply led to me uncovering a lot of the small details that confused me, there are still parts that are unclear to me. In the last paragraph, why does Cummings write that “god likes girls”? I understand the last line, and how if God exists, their compassion for the Earth is what makes them love the idea of what tomorrow holds for us. Regardless, what is the significance of “girls?” Is it something about innocence or beauty? Even though there are still parts of the poem that I do not understand, I feel like analyzing this poem gave me a new perspective on not only Cummings’ writing, but on life itself. If we don’t know what waits for us at the end, why are we always searching for it? Why don’t we focus on what we have here and now, and live by love with our hearts open?