edited ;)

[yoursmine]

I've pretty much decided on my next tattoo, a quote from e.e. cummings' poem "hate blows a bubble of despair into". I wanted to get it as a dedication my family, with whom I am very close. The quote would be: "And if i sing you are my voice,". My question is less of a question and more of a request for opinions. I would like to keep the quote in

Comments

My two cents.

[lovefamedeath]

Don't take away from the integrity of a poem just because people will correct you.

In keeping with the spirit of E.E. Cummings, forget about how convention says you should write, and write how you want to.

Leave the "i" as-is.

Re: My two cents.

[starmeat]

I giggle at this comment &post of people typing it "E.E. Cummings" but speaking of staying true to capitalization integrity. Giggle, giggle, giggle. :)

Re: My two cents.

[yoursmine]

I didn't know it wasn't supposed to be capitalized? Please, tell me more.

Re: My two cents.

[starmeat]

Biographical Notes:

Cummings, E.E.
b. Oct. 14, 1894, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.
d. Sept. 3, 1962, North Conway, N.H.

in full EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS, American poet and painter who first
attracted attention, in an age of literary experimentation, for his
eccentric punctuation and phrasing. The spirit of New England dissent and
of Emersonian "Self-Reliance" underlies the urbanized Yankee colloquialism
of Cummings' verse. Cummings' name is often styled "e.e. cummings" in the
mistaken belief that the poet legally changed his name to lowercase
letters only. Cummings used capital letters only irregularly in his verse
and did not object when publishers began lowercasing his name, but he
himself capitalized his name in his signature and in the title pages of
original editions of his books.

I don't know, in my mind, he is always e. e., although depending on the print, it could be E. E.. E. E. at the end always seems to rub me the wrong way.

[ashleyuberalles]

***e.e. cummings or e.e. Cummings, depending on the printing.

[yoursmine]

the book I have has it as "E.E. Cummings", but thanks for the correction.

[sketchbooks]

Honestly, pulling a single line out of the poem is already making the poem so different in itself! Changing the "i" to I would make it unrecognizable as a Cummings piece at all. All the Cummings poems in this community are fine, but it makes me cringe when people think they can alter the punctuation, change the capitilization, change the spacing of lines to fit on the body as they wish, etc. Cummings is absolutely known (more than any other poet) for the importance of these particular factors in his work! To change them freely is sort of blasphemy if you intend to respect his poetry with your tattoo. If I ever got a Cummings tattoo I would beg the artist to pay undivided attention to every single bit of punctuation and spacing.

[yoursmine]

Yeah, I agree with you on that. The idea of changing it was barely even a fleeting thought in my mind, I just thought it might evoke some nice stories or comments. I was actually joking with my friend about the fact that I will always have people looking at it and asking me, "what comes next?" because of the comma at the end. I definitely intend to keep it as-is.

[sketchbooks]

I was mostly reacting because I've been sort of frustrated at some of the pieces in this community lately. A literary tattoo should focus mainly on being a tribute to the writer first and foremost, with the person's own interpretaion of the meaning a distant second. Otherwise it's not really a literary tattoo, it's just words.

[designingdreams]

Hmm, I tend to disagree. Writing is an artform. Art is all about creating, recreating, and interpretation. Just as people see art pieces differently, so it is with literary texts. As long as people aren't misquoting an author and admit that it is an interpretation or recreation of a piece, there is nothing wrong with tattooing a personal interpretation of an artist's work...

Many people recreate (and sell) artwork based on VanGogh and other great artists, it isn't illegal, and I don't believe it is morally wrong, either. Art is supposed to inspire, and if a piece of text inspires someone to slightly recreate it, that shouldn't be a problem.

Why is it that all literary tats 'should' focus mainly on being a tribute to the artist? Why can't someone get a literary tattoo solely for the interpretation of the piece that means the most to them?

[littlegreen33]

I agree with general consensus. If someone asks you why it is lowercase, then they are clearly not very well acquainted with his work and, therefore, deserve to be shunned. And, no, I am not a literature snob. Whatever do you mean?

[everyoneiknow]

personally, i would leave it lowercase, but then, as you can see, im not really one for capitalization in general. also, if you get it lowercase, you can always have it altered to be uppercase later if youd like, whereas if you get it inked in uppercase, you cant really change its appearance to lowercase later. . .

[the_loveword]

that's a good point for the changing later on.

however, i agree that it shouldn't be changed, people are already gonna be asking you what it's from it won't take much more effort to say "it's lowercase on purpose". i just think if it's going to be a quote, it should be a direct quote.

really, whatever you prefer though.