How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near (1-2)
This line really captures the sort of feverish confusion that love can sometimes cause. All this girl has to do is twitch a little, and the speaker feels completely surrounded by her presence. What's crazy is that she feels super-close, but he also feels like he can't touch her. See what we mean by feverish confusion?
Quote #2
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose (7-8)
Yo, check out Cummings using the clichéd symbol of a rose in a love poem and actually managing to make it cool. Notice how he flips around gender roles here by making the presumed male speaker the one who opens like a flower. This makes the erotic imagery that comes along with the image of a flower opening even more complex.
Quote #3
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly, (9-10)
In a lot of love poems, you'll hear about how awesome a lover makes a person feel, or how terrible if it's a break-up poem. Here, though, Cummings pulls a neat trick by making something that's typically negative—closing off emotionally—into something positive. The speaker seems to enjoy the fact that his lover has so much control over his emotions.