Short Response to "Next to of Course God America I"

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Poetry response e. e. Cummings “next to of course god America I” The sonnet “next to of course god America I” by e. e. Cummings, at first glance, seems to be about patriotism, precisely a speech written by a patriot about his love for his country. However, when taking a closer look, it is quite obvious that the sonnet has two characters, the patriot and then also a main speaker who recites the patriot’s speech. Cummings can be interchangeable with the main speaker. The way the sonnet is written seems very hectic, this is especially noticeable in the speech part of the sonnet, and this hints that the patriot was reading fast. A reason for this is possibly because of nerves or he could be so enthusiastic about expressing his patriotism he stumbles over his own words, also he does not seem to care about the structure of his sentences. This is directly noticeable in the first line of the sonnet: “next to of course god America i…” This sentence is grammatically incorrect. The tittle of the Sonnet is the same as the first line of the patriot’s speech. The way the patriot placed the words makes an anticlimax, since the order of importance is in decreasing order. However, it shows how the patriot feels about his country, first comes America then his own needs. If we look on to the second line this pattern continues, “love you land of the pilgrims’ …” Yet in this line there is a slight change in tone, for the main speaker has added on his own thoughts: “… and so forth…” The main speaker mocks the patriot with this comment and also the expression “land of the pilgrims”. At this point we can assume the patriot and the main speaker have two different opinions about America. The patriot obviously loves his country more than himself, while the main speaker does not feel the same way. In these lines we find an Enjambment, for the first line is grammatically incorrect without

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