Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- The poem uses both slant rhyme and perfect rhyme throughout without any particular pattern. What is the effect of this choice by Cummings?
- A lot of the poem follows the meter of iambic tetrameter, but there are a bunch of places where it veers off the rails. How might this shifting rhythm connect with some of the larger ideas in the poem? Or does it not at all? Why do you think so?
- If the speaker's father could write a poem back to his son, what do you think he would say? Write your own version of this and don't be afraid to borrow some of Cummings's grab bag of tricks.
- What similarities and differences do you see in style and theme?
- Compare and contrast this poem to another by Cummings, like "in Just-" or "somewhere i have never traveled,gladly beyond."