(Untitled)

[arrivee]

so, i've had this idea for quite some time, but i'm lost on where exactly to put it.

the quote And death i think is no parenthesis by cummings has been meaningful in my life, as the entire poem has been. essentially the end for me sums up that poem and i'm attached to the entire quote

Comments

[shoelaceswitch]

I get what most everyone is saying about not altering the line, how it affects the poetry. However, I also think that since you are getting it on your body, you have a right to also make it your own if you want to

[marycatherine]

you've never read e. e. cummings if you think you can add and change all of that punctuation.

[shoelaceswitch]

Actually, he's one of my favorite poets.

My point was that I think you can change it for a tattoo because a tattoo can be personalized. The original poster is not intending to reproduce the entire work on their body. I liked the idea of taking that line and kind of making it their own. (Of course, that's just me. The OP might not want to do that.)

I would never suggest changing the punctuation of cummings' (or any poet's) poetry in a printed medium. Since form and 'white-space' can be equally as important as punctuation to the interpretation of a poem, one could even make the argument that taking a single line out of context of the entire poem is some sort of poetic crime.

In sum, I think it's fine to add stuff for the tattoo if the OP wants to, and I highly doubt e.e. cummings is rolling in his grave over it.

[marycatherine]

sorry, I didn't mean to accuse. from the way I read your post, it just seemed odd to me. while I respect your idea of "making it your own", I"m personally a fan of staying strictly to the original, but that's totally personal preference.

[theycallme_legs]

and (death) i think is no parenthesis

after eading the comments I feel that the (death) is for the win, but that up there was my original idea.

i apologise because I cannot brain today (i have the dumb)but if you are getting it on your wrist I would definately go with the one word only interpretation of the phrase for room and smudgness over time and i'm going to stop now

oh, fuck a duck

[theycallme_legs]

i have "traveling typewriter" font from dafont.com on my feet and i love it
as far as typerwriter fonts go.

oh, bed.

Re: oh, fuck a duck

[arrivee]

see, i want to see if curtis (my artist) would be able to actually blow up my typewriter font (like, from my own typewriter). i know they have stuff that resizes things, but i don't know if it's too small and would blur out. it's something i'll have to inquire about.

[arrivee]

oh, if i were doing my wrist, it would only be the one word. if i go for the long phrase, my forearm is gone.

i have wings on my back that my tattoo artist refused to make any smaller because of blurring and was oh so adamant about the whole thing.

[lady]

oh god, one of my favorites! and i have to agree with the others on (death) instead of the actual quote. AND i also agree that you shouldn't change the punctuation, however it is your body, you should get what you want.

[yeah_hi_its_me]

What font is that on your wrist? Love it.

[arrivee]

georgia, italicized.