“somewhere i have never travelled” by e.e cummings

This one is a very strange love poem by E. E. Cummings. The entire poem is written with small letter. Even the author’s name and the title are in small letters. The only capital letter in the poem is ‘S’ in “Spring”. The title of the poem is “somewhere I have never travelled” and indicates the poet’s inexperience with respect to his feelings towards his muse. It uses different metaphors to imply love as for instance roses. As the poem goes on Cummings questions her emotions as in and out, and hot and cold... Because her love towards him is a mystery, she clarifies that he could never explain the woman’s effect on him. No matter how hard he tries to understand and compare the woman, his feelings and the situation to the world’s mysteries and beauty still won’t make him understand more. The last and final line talks about how the girl that can penetrate his deepest feelings, and yet not let the rain to go through the core of a rose bloom.  

By using different metaphors, smiles, and personifications Cummings manages to explain the weakness of love. Simple words are used to convey complex meanings. By far the most interesting line that gave me food for thought on this poem was “nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands”.