Poem #4: Response to "In Just--" by E.E. Cummings

Poem:

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

Response:

The "little lame balloonman" is one of the most unique symbols in this poem. As the balloon man is the main figure in the poem, we see him transform from, "lame" to "queer" and "old" to "goat-footed" by the end of the poem. The poem offers a variety of characteristics of setting, imagery, and uses the tone of the poem to contribute to the greater theme. The two theme categories I fit this poem into was innocence and youth. Throughout the entire poem, the author represents the poem in a vibrant tone of voice from the speaker and also uses diction to make us believe the characters in the poem are really enjoying themselves. Using words such as, "puddle-wonderful", made me realize that the speaker and author themselves have a positive mindset towards the setting of the spring weather. However, spring is not the main theme of the poem.

Throughout the poem, the author states young childrens' names as, "eddieandbill" or "bettyanddisbel" to show the importance of youth and innocence in the poem. Although I am not entirely sure why the names are combined into one whole word, I do realize that the children have a significant purpose in the poem: they represent the innocence and youth of the world. Spring represents this season of vibrancy and positivity, much like the children of the poem whom dance and play hopscotch in the sun. What becomes interesting is noting the old and boring figure of the poem, which is the balloon man. This balloon man represents this contrast of characters: the children represent youth and innocence where the balloon man represents growing up and aging. Where as the children are active and enjoying life, the balloon man seems less and less interesting as we get towards the end of the poem.

Overall, we don't know if the balloon man is another innocent being or if he is trying to warn the young children that their time of maturing and growing up is coming up soon. The balloon man symbolizes this innocent life coming to an end. By the end of the poem, there seems to be an ending of positivity. The balloon man is still whistling, and continues to whistle as the kids play as if he is trying to tell them something. While the poem covers this theme of youth and innocence, the poem could also represent the ending of one's childhood and growing up and maturing before it is too late.