M. Butterfly
Cummings my love
External sources
i sing of Olaf glad and big
whose warmest heart recoiled at war:
a conscientious object-or
his wellbelovéd colonel(trig
westpointer most succinctly bred)
took erring Olaf soon in hand;
but--though an host of overjoyed
noncoms(first knocking on the head
him)do through icy waters roll
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed
anent this muddy toiletbowl,
while kindred intellects evoke
allegiance per blunt instruments--
Olaf(being to all intents
a corpse and wanting any rag
upon what God unto him gave)
responds,without getting annoyed
"I will not kiss your fucking flag"
straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)
but--though all kinds of officers
(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)
their passive prey did kick and curse
until for wear their clarion
voices and boots were much the worse,
and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease
by means of skilfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat--
Olaf(upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"
our president,being of which
assertions duly notified
threw the yellowsonofabitch
into a dungeon,where he died
Christ(of His mercy infinite)
i pray to see;and Olaf,too
preponderatingly because
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you.
next to of course god america i
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
my sweet old etcetera
my sweet old etcetera
aunt lucy during the recent
war could and what
is more did tell you just
what everybody was fighting
for,
my sister
Isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds)of socks not to
mention fleaproof earwarmers
etcetera wristers etcetera, my
mother hoped that
i would die etcetera
bravely of course my father used
to become hoarse talking about how it was
a privilege and if only he
could meanwhile my
self etcetera lay quietly
in the deep mud et
cetera
(dreaming,
et
cetera, of
Your smile
eyes knees and of your Etcetera)
etcetera as a word transforms in meaning throughout the poem: noun, verb, noun.
Class notes
"observation by observation"
- The poem appears to be a sonnet (14 lines, distinct rhythm, volta)
- But clearly an experimental sonnet, because modernist movement relied on experimentation
- Titled "III" (like Shakespeare's sonnets)
- Opens with punctuation marks - inverted commas - which also close out the first stanza. These aren't in all representations but the final line indicates that the first stanza is spoken and, in the final line, the objective onlooker notes his actions.
- The lack of punctuation creates a rushed atmosphere as there are no pauses between clauses.
- Phrases blend into each other.
- "and so forth" is blasé tonally and suggests a lack of conviction despite the patriotic stance of the words.
- etc.(and so forth) we don't care about finishing the list, the speaker doesn't actually believe these things.
- God, America and I all appear in lowercase diminishing the significance of religion, patriotism, and the speaker themselves.
- I recognise "oh say can you see" and "my country 'tis" but this second song is apparently also referenced in "land of the pilgrims". The fact these patriotic verses are incomplete reveals the speaker's non-committal attitude towards patriotic discourse.
- The incompleteness makes the phrases seem empty and buzzword like.
- The crucible?!?! Because the speaker doesn't believe, they can't actually say these patriotic phrase.
- The poem essentially reads "my country 'tis... no more", which is, more or less, the theme.
- "what of it" sounds abrupt and confrontational, but could also be read as a Que Sera, Sera (YOLO) type phrase (???).
- Is it meant to be read "we should worry in every language" or "in every language... thy sons acclaim your glorious name"? These have different connotations. Should everyone be concerned regardless of ethnicity or disability? Or is America celebrated universally? Ambiguous meaning.
- Are the speaker and reader separated by contrasting ideologies and thus both of the above be true?
- deafanddumb branched together feels reductive.
- Dismissive of certain peoples
- "by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum" are simplified expletives.
- American religious connections (??? question mark unconfirmed irl sighting required)
- Gorry is interesting because it isn't a real word. Is it meant to resemble "gory" or simply "golly" with an accent or impediment?
- Jingo ⇒ jingoism ⇒ extreme patriotism
- "beauty" and "beaut-/iful" hint at a volta of sorts. There is a change of topic here and a potential change of tone.
- "heroic happy dead" could be related to "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" from Wilfred Owen's poem, translating to "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country". The quote originally came from Horace.
- The simile "Rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter" is a very clever line. The rewording of an idiom (lambs to the slaughter), the association of the roar with the slaughter of lions instead of the lions themselves. Lions are also typically associated with bravery and strength.
- The speaker seems to praise the solders who "did not stop to think" and glorifies their death but the notion appears absurd, especially with how the patriotic voice has been undercut throughout the sonnet.
- The final line of the stanza links to America's infatuation with freedom of speech (then shall the voice of liberty be mute?).
- If much (if not all) of the stanza enjambs to create a hurried, insecure voice, the final line allows the reader to pause. The line break and the elongated space between "spoke" and "And" allow for introspection and reflection.
- "He spoke" is punctuated! The tone is matter-of-fact and suggests a reliability or sensibility when compared to the panicked speaker of the first stanza who is then described to have "drank rapidly" as further indication of their anxiety.
- Rapidly second: for exaggeration.
- The lack of final punctuation suggests the speaker or the speaker's attitudes live on beyond the poem.
