the bigness of cannon
is skilful,

but i have seen
death's clever enormous voice
which hides in a fragility
of poppies. . . .

i say that sometimes
on these long talkative animals
are laid fists of huger silence.

I have seen all the silence
full of vivid noiseless boys

at Roupy
i have seen
between barrages,

the night utter ripe unspeaking girls.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with E. E. Cummings, Tulips and Chimneys, New York: Liveright, 1976, page 50.

First published in Seven Poems, no. 2 in The Dial magazine, January 1920.

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. 1, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "the bigness of cannon", 2008 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 63