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Figurative Language And Form In E. Cummings 'You' Re On Your Own Kid

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Sadie DeCoster 1-31-23 “You’re On Your Own Kid”: Symbolism, Figurative Language and Form in E.E. Cummings ❲In Just-❳ Can you remember the last time you felt free like you did during childhood? The poem ❲In Just-❳, by E.E. Cummings, talks about the transition when a person loses their child-like attributes and becomes an adult. Cummings does this by describing a demonic-like “balloonman” who whistles to children during the spring distracting them from their games. This poem has great importance because it talks about something that not many people notice. The loss of childhood is not very memorable. Thinking back to the last time you felt like a child might not even be possible. E.E. Cummings, in his poem, ❲In Just-❳, uses symbolism, allusion, …show more content…

Some symbols in this poem I feel stand out include spring and the balloonman. Spring is brought up many times within this poem. Cummings chooses to use the word spring because he is describing a time of change. Spring, in terms of a season, is between winter and summer and it is the time when nature begins to change and come back to life. Although, that is only one meaning of the word spring. It can also mean emerging or arising, an energetic and forward movement, an outburst of fresh development, and it can be a supply of water emerging from the ground to form a river. Throughout the poem, Cummings talks about how the Earth becomes “mud-luscious” (lines 2-3) and “when the world is puddle-wonderful” (line 10). During the springtime, the snow begins to melt, and it creates mud and puddles. This great amount of water feeds the surrounding nature allowing new growth and life. Cummings uses the word spring to not only describe a time of growth within nature where there are muddy puddles, but also to relate it to the act of growth within a person. Many people declutter their lives with spring cleaning to try and become someone different for the following months. The use of spring in the poem symbolizes the children going through a time of growth where they are decluttering their child-like habits and growing into the teenagers they are bound to

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