i thank You God for most this amazing

by e. e. cummings


Original Language English

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-- from E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962, by e. e. cummings

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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

It is the summer solstice. A gorgeous morning here in Oregon, a day that inspires me to step outside and feel utter gratitude for simply being...

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

I first read this more than thirty years ago, and I still get shivers reading those opening lines.

The delightfully anarchic poetry of e. e. cummings is more than poetic art, there is something of the mystic experience in it, as well. This poem is a good example.

The two parenthetical verses hint that he is describing much more than simply the natural joy of a beautiful day. There is something truly magical going on here...

He uses Biblical, ecstatic phrasing when he proclaims "(now the ears of my ears are awake and / now the eyes of my eyes are opened)." He isn't just saying this, he seems to shout it out to the "great happening illimitably earth." This is seeing the inner nature of things, as they are in their true essence. This is not just seeing; he is seeing, not with the eyes, but with the "eyes of my eyes." Perceiving in this way, we invite the natural world in, as if we are ingesting it, integrating it into ourselves. Every experience becomes vivifying nutrition for the soul.

In this new awareness, we perceive not only the living day all around us, we also recognize ourselves for the first time. It is a radical awakening, a new life, a birth of Self --

i who have died and am alive again today.


Have an amazing day!



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E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962 73 Poems 1 x 1 [One Times One] 50 Poems 95 Poems
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i thank You God for