4 April 2005: Another poem by E. E. Cummings that I will discuss in my presentation:
go(perpe)go
(tu)to(al
adve
nturin
g p
article
s of s
ini
sterd
exte
ri)go to(ty)the(om
nivorou salways lugbrin
g ingseekfindlosin g
motilities
are)go to
the
ant
(al
ways
alingwaysing)
go to the ant thou go
(inging)
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It is one of the most complete compendiums of his techniques: intra-syllabic word-breaks (e.g., breaking "adventuring" into "adve// nturin/ g") and line-breaks (e.g., "nivorou salways lugbrin"), intra-textual parens-insertions (e.g., "go(perpe)go"), interwoven texts (in this case, using parens, as in "ri)go to(ty)the(om"), infraverbal fusion (clumping words or partws of words or words and parts of words together, as in "ingseekfindlosin") and visio-poetic letter-rhymes (e.g., "s of s," "ini" and "g ingseekfindlosin g")--which suggests an observance of Proper Symmetries on the part of the ants.
The technique I'm most interested in here, though, is the langpo technique of using one part of speech as another part of speech (which poets have done for millennia before the language poets did, but which the language poets have done much more seriously and thoroughly). I'm referring to "inging," in particular. Here, Cummings uses "ing," which is a part of a part of speech, a participle, as a verb. Ants, he's saying, are always doing something, always inging.
Of course, even without the techniques, the sardonic pay-off is priceless.
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