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by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962)

nobody loses all the time
 (Sung text for setting by G. Bachlund)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
i had an uncle named
Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle

Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added

my Uncle Sol's farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when

my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died and so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
skunks in a subtle manner

or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who'd given my Uncle Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scrumptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and

i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol's coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol

and started a worm farm)

Note: this poem entered the public domain in 2022.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "nobody loses all the time", 2005 [ baritone and piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962), no title, appears in is 5, in 1. One, no. 10, first published 1926

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-01
Line count: 37
Word count: 209

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