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October 30

Ballad of an Intellectual

A discussion on another desk reminded me of one of my favorite E. E. Cummings poems, "Ballad of an Intellectual", for which my affection is admittedly not purely on the basis of literary merit. It's a sharp poke at the radical chic of his day.

We don't seem to have an article on the poem itself, and I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out a few things about some of the allusions.

First, can anyone figure out who the poem is about? I get a strong sense that Cummings had someone in particular in mind. A perfectly acceptable answer is, "no, there's no evidence that he was talking about anyone in particular",or perhaps "there's no one in particular for which there's evidence that he's the subject", which I suppose is a bit different if that's the case.
This couplet, [f]or whoso conniveth at Lenin his dream/shall dine upon bayonets,isn't and seam. Can anyone figure out "isn't and seam"? A fair number of the allusions seem to be sound-alikes, but "isn't and seam" doesn't sound like anything I can think of.
The line for if you're not bourgeois you're Eddie Gest. I think this might be Edgar Guest? But though Guest is described as "the people's poet", our article doesn't suggest that he was ever particularly political, and certainly never suggests he was a communist.

Thanks for any help! --Trovatore (talk) 04:41, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Not much of a literary critic, but here and here are the offerings of Mr Google. Alansplodge (talk) 11:09, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Some of the rhyming approaches Ogden Nash territory (though I doubt Ogden Nash would have ever taken Communism as a subject)... AnonMoos (talk) 12:31, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This Amazon customer review calls the Ballad "a sour jingle about sour communards". Alansplodge (talk) 13:56, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Did anyone else notice that this poem is dated 1994, and old e.e. died in 1962? DOR (HK) (talk) 14:02, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Per the footnote at the bottom of the poem: "From "e. e. cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962: Revised, Corrected, and Expanded Edition Containing All the Published Poetry , " edited by George J. Firmage. (Liveright: $50). This is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of e. e. cummings (Oct. 14, 1894). 1994 Reprinted by permission."uhhlive (talk) 14:51, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The first link that I posted (www.lorenwebster) says the poem was "Written in 1932". Alansplodge (talk) 16:41, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Can someone explain why this man's work is seen as more worthy, say, than the lyrics of the average garage band or doggerel from a high school journal? Honestly, I don't perceive it. Wnt (talk) 23:16, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Wnt: As I mentioned, I like this particular poem for reasons other than its pure value as literature, but in any case it is very atypical of Cummings's larger oeuvre. Maybe you knew that; maybe not. If you didn't, you might look up "anyone lived in a pretty how town" or "my father moved through dooms of love", and see if they move you more. (I can't get through either of them dry-eyed, but that might be just me.) --Trovatore (talk) 00:38, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The exploration of parts of speech in the second one is slightly more interesting, though aesthetically they fall on barren rock for me. But, the first of your cites also uses "isn't" as a noun, which seems like it might be relevant to answering the original question. Wnt (talk) 01:59, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, I suppose it's possible, but "anyone" is a love story whereas "ballad" is a political critique, so I kind of doubt it's the same "isn't". If you can say more about your insight, though, I'd love to hear it — maybe I missed your point. --Trovatore (talk) 02:03, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I'm not sure the text really means very much, but I would guess "isn't" as a noun in both cases means essentially "a statement that it isn't my problem". In the "ballad" there are quotes with isn't as a verb to go by; in the other I infer this from "cared not at all". Wnt (talk) 02:10, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm — and then "seam"? I still want to read this as a sound-alike for something, but I'm blanking on what it sounds like. --Trovatore (talk) 02:16, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

(By the way, I'm not sure I quite agree with your interpretation of "isn't" in "anyone". I think the point is that anyone and noone are authentic and active — he sings his didn't and dances his did; her character is developed more in terms of her love for him, but together they laugh their cryings and do their dance. The townspeople are not really living in the same way as noone and anyone; that's why they sow their isn't and reap their same. Then anyone and noone die, and the townspeople just go on.) --Trovatore (talk) 02:23, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I have no idea. But "seem" is an apparent homophone. Given the description of e.e. cummings as developing a strong dislike for Communism after seeing 1931 Russia, I'm not expecting anything friendly. Wnt (talk) 02:27, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, yeah, it could be just "seem", spelled to "rhyme" with the preceding "dream". I thought it was probably some more specific reference to some event or institution of the time, but maybe not. Yes, of course the poem is anti-communist; that's clear from beginning to end. --Trovatore (talk) 02:44, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The line is modeled after the nursery rhyme about "Curly Locks," who will feed upon strawberries, sugar and cream. No theory why cummings plugs in the words that he does, though. Herbivore (talk) 22:35, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, thank you very much! I would never have gotten that. Actually I'm not sure I'm 100% convinced, but it looks plausible, and it would never have occurred to me. --Trovatore (talk) 22:55, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Just a side note, as several respondents have lowercased Cummings's name: See E. E. Cummings#Name and capitalization. --Trovatore (talk) 22:59, 31 October 2017 (UTC) [reply]