by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962)
O sweet spontaneous Matches original text
Language: English
O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
fingers of
purient philosophers pinched
and
poked
thee
,has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy
beauty .how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and
buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true
to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover
thou answerest
them only with
spring)
First published as no. II in Five Songs in The Dial, Volume 68 no. 5, May 1920
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Composition:
- Set to music by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "O sweet spontaneous", 2016, copyright © 2018, first performed 2018 [ soprano, unaccompanied ], from In Spring -- 3 Songs for Unaccompanied Soprano on Poems by E. E. Cummings, no. 1, E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group
Text Authorship:
- by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962), no title, appears in Tulips and Chimneys, in 1. Tulips, in 5. La Guerre, no. 2, first published 1920
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-12
Line count: 27
Word count: 62