I Thank You God for Most This Amazing

By: EE Cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing

day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Edward Estlin Cummings (1894–1962), known as E. E. Cummings, is one of

America’s most famous twentieth-century poets. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he
was raised, a pastor’s son, in the Unitarian faith, which emphasizes the oneness of God.
As an adult he wed this spiritual framework to Emersonian transcendentalism, a
philosophical movement that celebrates humanity and nature. Elements from these two
complementary traditions can be detected in his praise poem “i thank You God for most
this amazing,” in which the natural world triggers an awakening to Truth. And for
Cummings, Truth is a person, a “You” with a capital Y.

The first thing that it appears to reveal about cummings is that he believes in God.
He addresses the poem to Him, as a sort of oblation, a prayer of gratitude. He even opens
up in the style of a prayer by saying "i thank You God for most this amazing day." So, he
believes in God, and given the text of the poem, is grateful that God made such a beautiful
day, a beautiful earth to live in.
 Note also cummings' unusual use of capitalization when speaking of God.
Cummings is famous for never capitalizing anything at all. He messes with the rules of
standard spelling and punctuation a lot, and even in his own name he didn't capitalize. It
is e.e. cummings, not E.E. Cummings. So, the fact that he deviates from his non-
capitalization in order to write "God," shows the deep respect and reverence that he must
have for God. He refers to God as You, with a capital Y also. Capitalizing indicates
honoring someone that you respect and admire, and showing your deference for them.

In addition to his belief and reverence for God, we can tell that cummings enjoys
nature and the beautiful things of the earth. It invigorates and enlivens him. The entire
poem is a rejoicing of the beauty that can be found in God's nature.