Wordsworth’s begins gently. He starts off with; ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair.’ This means that there is nothing more beautiful. He then goes on to say that you must be of really dull nature if such a wonderful sight does not touch you. This poem is more conventional and uses proper punctuation. The wording is not spontaneous and rushed liked Cummings’s. It is first an octlet and then a seslet. It is an iamic pentameter.
The poem by E.E. Cummings is also an iamic pentameter. The poem continues by saying how beautiful the sky is and everything that is forever, ‘which is Yes.’ The word ‘Yes’ is effective because it only has one syllable has a capital letter and gets the meaning of being ‘positive’ across better. The next stanza is in brackets, which shows us that it is not as important as the rest of the poem but it still gives a relative explanation. It says that that, ‘i who have died am alive again today.’ It means that until now he has never noticed how beautiful the world could be and he expresses this by saying that his eyes were oblivious to the beauty of the Earth but now they’ve awoken and have become aware of everything. Next he continues by saying that because he is seeing the Earth’s beauty for the first time that it is like a birthday of everything that is happening on earth.
Going back to Wordsworth’s, it continues by saying that there is no one around and this makes it more beautiful. As far as you can see are ships, domes and theatres oblivious to the fields and sky. Everything is bright in the clear smokeless air. The sun never looked more beautiful then in the city. He says that he has never felt so peaceful before and he also mentions the River Thames. He makes the city seem like it is almost a living thing, that it will soon awaken and go about its day as usual. Wordsthworth does not believe that because it is manmade that it cannot be beautiful, even though he normally wrote about natural beauty.
E.E Cummings’s carries on by saying that he can’t believe that hearing, smelling, touching, tasting and seeing could be so amazing and wonderful. Then he finishes by saying that his ears have now begun to hear things that they never heard before and that his eyes are seeing things that they saw before. He is now aware of nature in a different and better way.
Cumming’s is almost prayer like. It is full of praise and awe. It uses a complex rhyme scheme and moving pictures to interpret his feelings. It is about a landscape and refers to the senses frequently. It was written in the 20th Century and it being spontaneous and using incorrect punctuation makes it all the more effective.
Wordsworth’s also used a complex rhyme scheme. The poem is aware of God although it is not so full of praise as Cummings’s is. It appeals to the senses and uses better punctuation. Wordsworth creates a still picture and his poem is slower then Cummings’s. It was written in the 19th Century and describes a cityscape.
I prefer ‘i thank you God’ by E.E. Cummings because of the way it is effective by using fast moving pictures and select punctuation. It is full of energy and because of its spontaneity it appears creative and very inspiring. I prefer it because it is a spontaneous overflow of emotion that is flowing and deep.