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1(a... (a leaf falls on loneliness)
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1(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
e.e. cummings
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Monday, January 13, 2003 |
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Comments about this poem (1(a... (a leaf falls on loneliness)
by
e.e. cummings
) |
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Kathryn Moore (3/26/2010 6:51:00 PM)
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Treating this poem as a Concrete Poem when I use it in my classroom, I have always shared my personal interpretations that:
a) the poem looks like a leaf is actually falling from a tall tree- hence the tall poem
b) the 'iness' at the end makes me feel that 'aloneness' that we call solitude
c) how lovely it is that the word 'one' is directly over the letter 'l' which looks like a numeric one
d) the loneliness is interrupted by the leaf falling, making the imaginary speaker of the poem (and the actual reader of the poem) follow the descent of the leaf as it falls
This is truly my favorite cummings poem, and one of my favorite poems of all that I have read- as an English teacher for over a dozen years.
How do we get Poemhunter to fix the poem, though? It should NOT be a numeric 1, it is definitely an L, but lowercase. I almost didn't find the poem because of how they have it published.
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Daniel Pitchers (2/7/2010 12:19:00 AM)
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I believe the correct interpretation is 'a leaf falls within loneliness'
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Ryan Johnson (10/15/2009 10:45:00 PM)
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I think there are two ways to interrpret this piece. Often poetry, as with all forms of art, depends on the reader to find his or her own meaning. One could look at this to read as either, 'a leaf falls in loneliness' or as 'a leaf falls interrupting loneliness'. Both can hold a deep meaning for the reader. One must also note how 'l' is set set apart, as l can be seen as either the lowercase 'L' or the number 1. Another impressive detail, albeit significantly less important, is how '(a leaf falls) ' is written in such a way that makes the readers eyes dart back and forth going down the page, which gives one the impression of a leaf flittering in the wind. To me, I see a man alone in an endless expanse of featurless desert, utterly alone. Yet for one brief moment, as a leafs flutters by in the wind, he is no longer alone. there is something else, no matter how insignificant, and it is like a revalation to him, as if the earth suddenly makes sense. But then the leaf passes, the wind dies, whatever glorious epiphany he was on the verge of is suddenly gone, and once again he is alone. Perhaps the man is a God, or a traveler, or a lonely begger, that is up to the reader to decide for himself.
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Martin Springer (10/11/2007 8:19:00 AM)
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'a leaf falls' is embedded within loneliness; it interrupts loneliness. I imagine a person being lonely and confused, just as we are by the typographical dislocation of the words; yet as we process the poem, we make sense out of it, just as the lonely person might make sense of experience, converting what begins as 'loneliness' into 'oneliness'. A lonely person has separated him/herself from others, has perhaps been morose, but before it can become despair, he/she sees a leaf fall and an epiphany occurs about the subject's at-one-ness with creation.
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A Bunt (2/7/2007 11:43:00 PM)
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Hmmm, at first I didn't think so, but upon reflection, I do believe both Michael Toland and Bobby Lankin to be correct: that the first line is 'l(a' (letter 'L') , and that it is IN rather than ON.
Look: l(a leaf falls) onliness
the parenthetical '(a leaf falls) ' is embedded IN the word 'l...oneliness'
(loneliness/Loneliness, not 1liness)
Plus, semantically, it makes more sense to say 'a leaf falls in loneliness' rather than the 'on' version. Think of it this way: 'in loneliness, a leaf falls' makes more sense than 'on loneliness, a leaf falls', don't you agree?
AND, I agree with Michael Toland that including 'a leaf falls' in the 'false title' ruins it for the first time reader- it's like including the punch line at the beginning of a joke.
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Sal Paradise (1/27/2007 12:15:00 PM)
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The typewriter idea might be correct, I'm not sure, but the poem couldn't have been written in the mid 1800s considering e. e. wasn't born yet. It was first published in 1958 in his '95 poems' (some sources also state it was published in 'Tulips and Chimneys' in 1923, but it's nowhere to be found in the index of that book) . As for the title of the poem, it's the font that is the issue. The number 1 works here rather than using the letter 'l', because this fonts 'l' does not have the curve at the top, and the poem is normally titled '1(a'.
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Katherine Cherry (1/15/2007 6:09:00 PM)
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The title is actually correct... this poem is written in the mid 1800's, they didnt have computers so they used a typewriter. The letter 'L' and the number 1 were the same key on the typewriter...so the title '1(a' is correct. if it was really the letter L the poem wouldn't make sense... the number one symbolizes loneliness, that is why it is the number 1. Thank you.
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Sara Henderson (9/16/2006 9:32:00 PM)
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Um okay I don't think you can really say that there is supposed to be any specific preposition in the non-existent title of this poem there Bobby Lankin. If e.e. cummings intended a preposition he would have used one. But he didn't. He used parentheses. Also the 1/L mixup really really screws up the entire poem. Let's get it straight poemhunter, come on.
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Bobby Lankin (5/11/2006 5:21:00 PM)
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It seems that people think this poem is supposed to have a name. It is not. Also, if it were supposed to have a name, its name would be 'A leaf falls IN loneliness' not ON loneliness. If you understood the true meaning of this poem, you would understand that.
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Michael Toland (4/27/2006 11:39:00 PM)
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the title is 'l(a' not '1(a... (a leaf falls on loneliness) '. this false title ruins the poem for first-time readers.
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