Life Between the Lines

I grew up surrounded by Chinese culture, which inevitably included thorough references to Chinese poems, which (unsurprisingly) were written in Chinese (in case it wasn't clear, I'm Chinese). I think I've always considered the worlds of Chinese poetry and English poetry separate from one another, not just because they're divided by the sounds and words that form their structure and body but also because they've existed in different spheres of life for me.  But just like international and domestic politics, non-English and English poetry are connected in innumerable ways, interweaved through intertextuality, structure, and rhythm, even if they often can, are, and should be reviewed in different lights. Non-English poetry isn't as accessible to us because, simply put, we can't read the words that constitute the poem. However, some poems contain translations, most often accomplished by other poets or amateur students but sometimes created by the original poet t...

The first time I ever saw a poem written by e e cummings, I thought it was something created by an amateur middle schooler excited to use Tumblr for the first time. I learned that e e cummings liked lowercase letters. The second time I ever saw a poem written by e e cummings, I thought someone (or their cat) had fell on their keyboard. I learned that e e cummings didn't subscribe to society's expectations of formatting. The third time I ever saw a poem written by e e cummings, I thought it was a run-of-the-mill poet. I learned that e e cummings didn't always play by his own "rules." "grasshopper" by e e cummings To me, e e cummings exemplifies the kind of poet whose poetry is loved by English teachers searching for meaning between lines, letters, and spaces, yet hated by the group of English students who believe symbolism is dead and literal meaning trumps all. "next to of course god america i" is still one of my favorite poems of his; the titl...