Love According to the Books VS the Heart

if everything happens that can't be done
e.e. cummings

if everything happens that can't be done
(and anything's righter
than books
could plan)
the stupidest teacher will almost guess
(with a run
skip
around we go yes)
there's nothing as something as one
one hasn't a why or because or although
(and buds know better
than books
don't grow)
one's anything old being everything new
(with a what
which
around we come who)
one's everyanything so
so world is a leaf so a tree is a bough
(and birds sing sweeter
than books
tell how)
so here is away and so your is a my
(with a down
up
around again fly)
forever was never till now
now i love you and you love me
(and books are shuter
than books
can be)
and deep in the high that does nothing but fall
(with a shout
each
around we go all)
there's somebody calling who's we
we're anything brighter than even the sun
(we're everything greater
than books
might mean)
we're everyanything more than believe
(with a spin
leap
alive we're alive)
we're wonderful one times one



This poem is focused on a couple that is in love and seems to defy everything books tell you about love and being in love. However, this purpose is not revealed for quite some time. Instead, Cummings focuses on the idea of books and how they are incapable of always revealing the truth in life.
Cummings begins the poem by talking about broader ideas, crafting lines like "if everything happens that can't be done," to make the reader pause and think about the magnitude of this concept. This occurs for the first three stanzas of the poem. He begins his contrasts to books and how they are often wrong. He states, "(and anything's righter than books could plan)" implying that books are not always reliable sources of information and one can't always trust them for answers. Cummings goes on to connect the understanding of life and love to nature. He implies that flower buds and birds know more about life and love than books do. He also implies that books don't do anything justice by stating that "birds sing sweeter than books tell how". By this point in the poem, Cummings has made it quite clear that he has little faith in books and what they claim to be the truth. In doing so, he is able to make the reader question the same thing.
The last two stanzas are when Cummings finally reveals what the true purpose of this poem is to the reader. In fact, the first line of the fourth stanza sums the poem's purpose up: "now i love you and you love me". The next piece, "(and books are shutter than books could be)," puts into words the frustration and confusion Cummings is facing as a result of him and this woman being in love. These couple of lines provide the reader with the main purpose of the poem; Cummings wants to reveal to the reader that despite what the books say about life and love, love is not always by the books and you have to listen to and follow your heart more than your mind. He states, "(we're everything greater than books might mean)," further enforcing that their love could never be described or matched by how a book wrote it. The final line of the poem states this idea in the most direct way possible: "we're wonderful one times one," implying that their love for each other has allowed them to become one being and no book could ever put that feeling of unity into words and make it as truthful as it deserves to be.
Cummings has the first and last word of each stanza rhyme to create a unity between the ideas presented and contrasted in each stanza which works quite effectively. In addition, he puts his ideas about books in parentheses to demonstrate that they are thoughts of his that oppose the reality of his life even though people do still believe in them. This is also very effective in showing the difference between what he believes to be true and what others believe to be true. I found it interesting that he didn't reveal the purpose of his poem until the fourth stanza, however, after reading the poem a couple of times, it made the most sense. If Cummings had exposed the point of his poem earlier on, the reader wouldn't have understood the importance of his feelings towards books and what they stand for. The poem is well-constructed and has a funny and unique way of getting to the point.