Wow. This poem is one to post on your bedroom wall and read frequently to remind you to look at everything with questions and not to live on "autopilot," driven only by the expectations of our culture. We have been "would-ed, should-ed, must-ed, and may-ed" to death-- a living, walking, not-fully-alive state. Breaking out of the bonds of conventional wisdom and living your life as YOU and not as someone else is the subject of this poem, many other Cummings poems, growth psychology, and major religions (ironic though it may seem).
"God" in this poem is the god that the conventional face of Christianity creates in our minds. "Where is Effie who was dead?" says it all. Notice he doesn't say "is dead." She WAS dead, even when she was alive.
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"God" in this poem is the god that the conventional face of Christianity creates in our minds. "Where is Effie who was dead?" says it all. Notice he doesn't say "is dead." She WAS dead, even when she was alive.