The Full Text of “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”
The Full Text of “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Introduction
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Published in 1952, “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” is one of E. E. Cummings’s best known love poems. The speaker feels an intense connection to an unidentified lover, addressing the poem to this person and suggesting that everything in life has become infused with their romance. The poem very loosely adheres to the structure of a sonnet, though the meter and rhyme scheme—as well as the stanza form—break from convention. This aligns with the idiosyncratic syntactical style that Cummings is known for, which is also on full display here.
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Summary
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The speaker and an unidentified lover are—according to the speaker—so connected that the lover's heart now seems to exist inside the speaker's own. This means that their love is always with the speaker, no matter where the speaker goes. Even when the speaker seems to be acting as an individual, then, the truth is that everything the speaker does is inspired by or somehow associated with the lover's perpetual presence within the speaker's heart.
The speaker is not afraid of the future, certain that whatever happens will happen with the lover. For this reason, the speaker doesn't yearn for any other kind of life, feeling that this relationship with the lover already makes for a perfect existence. Accordingly, everything in life seems imbued with the lover's presence, and this enables the speaker to understand previously meaningless elements like the moon. Similarly, the feeling of joy that the sun conveys now seems connected to the lover's relationship with the speaker.
The grand feeling of connection that arises as a result of the speaker's relationship with the lover is unknown to anyone else. Their love is so fundamental and pure that it resembles the basic truths of existence in the natural world, growing and expanding like a tree—a tree so tall and magnificent that it exceeds human understanding. And the sheer intangibility of this love is so powerful and awe-inspiring that it's like the elemental forces that keep the stars from crashing together.
Once more, the speaker insists that the lover's heart is always with the speaker, since it exists inside the speaker's own heart.
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Themes
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Love and Connection
With its affectionate tone and focus on the heart, “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” explores what it feels like to be deeply in love with another person. To do this, the speaker communicates wonder and amazement about the beauty of love. More than that, though, the speaker describes a romantic relationship so strong and intimate that it transcends individuality, effectively uniting the speaker and the subject of the poem as one. In the world of the poem, then, love leads to a sense of unity.
The speaker makes it clear early on that this poem is about the kind of romantic devotion that inspires people to stop seeing themselves as totally separate from their partners. To that end, the first line suggests that the speaker carries the lover’s heart inside of the speaker’s own heart. This image underscores the extent to which the speaker has embraced the lover, incorporating the lover into the very organ that keeps the speaker alive. In this sense, the lover is portrayed as integral to the speaker’s entire being.
To further cement the idea that the lover is tangled up in the speaker’s very existence, the speaker upholds that the lover informs everything the speaker does, since the two of them have become one—after all, “whatever is done” by the speaker is, according to the speaker, the lover’s “doing.” In turn, it becomes clear that the speaker’s love for the subject not only refigures the speaker’s sense of self, but also influences the way the speaker moves through the world.
With this in mind, love also affects the way the speaker conceives of the surrounding environment and the natural world. Even the moon, for instance, becomes an embodiment of the lover’s effect on the speaker. This is because the lover is the speaker’s entire “world,” and this ultimately helps the speaker make sense of things that have previously seemed inscrutable. Indeed, the speaker doesn’t know what a “moon has always meant” but now feels as if it conveys the feeling of being in love.
In other words, the speaker’s relationship with the lover has given meaning to otherwise meaningless parts of everyday life, including natural elements like the moon and, for that matter, the sun. If this seems convoluted, it doesn’t have to be. Simply put, being in love makes the speaker feel in touch with everything. Accordingly, the poem presents loves itself as a powerful thing capable of lending a person’s entire life a sense of beautiful harmony.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-15
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”
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Lines 1-2
i carry your ...
... my heart)The speaker opens with apostrophe, addressing an unidentified subject directly. Right away, the speaker's love for this person becomes clear, since the speaker immediately focuses on the lover's heart. Of course, heart-related imagery often appears in love poems, but the speaker's thoughts about the lover's heart are somewhat unique. Using an anaphora to repeat the words "i carry," the speaker continues in the parentheses by suggesting that the lover's heart exists inside the speaker's own. Whereas the original idea of carrying the lover's heart isn't particularly notable, the image of a heart within another heart is somewhat strange and thus all the more meaningful. Indeed, that the lover's heart is inside the speaker's creates a sense of unity, as if these two people are so close that their most vital body parts are practically one.
Needless to say, the heart frequently functions in literature as a symbol for love, but it's worth considering the actual anatomical function of this bodily organ. Because the heart is responsible for pumping blood through the body, it is perhaps the most important organ. As such, the fact that the lover's heart is inside the speaker's suggests that the lover is integral to the speaker's very existence, effectively becoming the speaker's life force.
No matter how close these two people are, though, it's obvious that this image of a heart existing inside another heart is a metaphor. After all, the lover's heart isn't literally inside the speaker's—rather, this is simply a way for the speaker to express just how close and dear these two people are.
Similarly, the strange use of punctuation in the first line reinforces the idea that the speaker and the lover are inseparable, as if putting a space between the end of the first phrase and the opening parenthesis ("me(carry") would be too painful for the speaker. In other words, the lack of white space between "me" and "(carry" softens the effect of the caesura that would otherwise occur between the two phrases, and this only underlines the feeling of closeness between the speaker and the lover. In this regard, E. E. Cummings's characteristically odd syntactical style helps the speaker more thoroughly communicate the feeling of unity between the speaker and the lover.
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Lines 2-4
i am never ...
... your doing,my darling) -
Lines 5-7
i fear ...
... my world,my true) -
Lines 8-9
and it’s you ...
... sing is you -
Lines 10-11
here is the ...
... of the bud -
Lines 12-13
and the sky ...
... mind can hide) -
Lines 14-15
and this is ...
... in my heart)
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Symbols
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The Heart
As is the case in many love poems, the image of the heart in "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" represents love. This is a very straightforward symbol, one that the speaker uses as a way of speaking about the romantic relationship with the lover.
However, the speaker adds a bit of complexity to this otherwise clichéd symbolism by presenting readers with the image of one heart existing inside another. This image gives rise to the idea of unity, inseparability, and even—to a certain extent—possession, as the lover has literally become part of the speaker. In fact, the lover apparently exists inside what is arguably the most important organ in the speaker's body. In turn, it becomes clear that the lover is integral to the speaker's survival. Accordingly, readers come to see love itself as a life force, something capable of keeping people alive.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in / my heart)i am never without it”
- Line 15: “i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)”
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The Natural World
Elements of the natural world appear in the poem as external embodiments of the speaker's romantic feelings. In the wake of the speaker's feelings for the lover, for instance, the speaker suddenly has a new perspective on the moon and what it has "always meant." Similarly, the sun "sing[s]" in a way that reflects the joy the speaker feels as a result of this romantic relationship.
The evidence of the speaker's emotions in the natural world become somewhat grandiose and transcendent in lines 11 through 14 ("here is the root ... the stars apart"), when the speaker focuses on naturalistic imagery like roots, buds, the sky, and a tree that "grows / higher than soul can hope or mind can hide." In this section of the poem, the speaker reminds readers of the kinds of connection and growth that exist in nature, calling attention to the ways in which plants or trees grow from the ground and into the sky. A similar kind of connection governs romantic love, the speaker implies, as made evident by the idea that the lover's heart exists inside the speaker's and that this love expands outward, causing the speaker to see the world anew. Consequently, the natural world comes to represent the idea of unity and the extent to which love as changed the speaker's general way of moving through life.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 8-9: “and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant / and whatever a sun will always sing is you”
- Lines 11-14: “(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud / and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows / higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) / and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart”
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
This is a very alliterative poem. That alliteration often happens in fast fits and spurts, quickly moving from one repetition to another. For instance, lines 5 through 8 rotate through several alliterative sounds by starting with an /f/, moving to a /w/, and then transitioning to an /m/ sound:
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meantThe words "fear," "fate," "for," and "fate" (again) are obviously alliterative, as are the words "want, "world" (twice), and "whatever." Lastly, the words "moon" and "meant" are alliterative.
What's even more interesting than the way this sequence of alliteration moves from one letter to the next, though, is that a closer look reveals that the /m/ sound is actually laced throughout the entire passage, since there are so many instances of the word "my" that appear before the /m/ sound truly jumps out in the phrase "whatever a moon has always meant." In this regard, readers are subtly primed to pick up on the alliterative /m/ sound when it finally appears in full force. As a result, it becomes clear that the poem's use of alliteration isn't as separated out as it might seem at first, but actually intertwined within itself.
With this in mind, readers may sense that the rich and connective sound that alliteration creates is essential to the poem, especially since these repeated sounds give the words a musicality that reflects the speaker's doting and amorous tone. Moreover, the feeling of connectivity that alliteration builds also underscores the poem's celebration of love and its ability to join two people together so cohesively.
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “go,” “go,” “dear,” “done”
- Line 4: “doing,” “darling”
- Line 5: “fear”
- Line 6: “fate,” “for,” “fate,” “want”
- Line 7: “world,” “world”
- Line 8: “whatever,” “moon,” “meant”
- Line 9: “whatever,” “sun,” “sing”
- Line 10: “nobody,” “knows”
- Line 11: “root,” “root,” “bud,” “bud”
- Line 12: “sky,” “sky”
- Line 13: “higher,” “soul,” “hope,” “hide”
- Line 14: “stars”
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Anaphora
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Apostrophe
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Caesura
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Diacope
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Enjambment
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Metaphor
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Parallelism
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Epanalepsis
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Personification
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Sibilance
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Assonance
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"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Fate
- Sweet
- True
- Bud
- Wonder
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(Location in poem: Line 6: “fate”)
A future outcome, often one that seems inevitable or destined to turn out a certain way.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”
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Form
Although it is certainly not a perfect sonnet, the poem gestures toward certain structural conventions that are typically associated with the sonnet form. Of course, the poem has 15 lines instead of 14, which would suggest that it isn't a sonnet. However, line 5 is only two words long ("i fear") and is heavily indented, inviting readers to question whether or not it should really even be counted as its own line.
Interestingly enough, this two-word line also divides the first part of the poem into two groups of four lines, otherwise known as quatrains. If the short line "i fear" is ignored, then, the first half of the poem aligns with the form of an Italian sonnet, which is made up of two quatrains (which make up an octave) followed by a six-line sestet. However, the line "i fear" is there, effectively complicating the form and indicating that, though the poem is similar to an Italian sonnet, it has its own unique structure.
In keeping with this, lines 10 through 15 ("here is the ... in my heart") almost functions as a final sestet, except for the fact that the final line is presented as its own stanza. If the last line didn't appear after a stanza break, then the poem would end with the kind of six-line sestet that typically characterizes the standard Italian sonnet, but this is not the case, even if the poem does seem to gesture toward this convention.
Similarly, it's worth noting that the final two lines rhyme with each other ("apart" and "heart"). This is a typical thing that appears in Elizabethan sonnets, which always end with a rhyming couplet. In this way, the poem emulates yet another sonnet form without actually fully adhering to the rules of the form.
These idiosyncratic deviations from convention are characteristic of E. E. Cummings's style, so it's hard to argue that they reflect anything specific about this particular poem's interests or themes. Having said that, though, one might suggest that this unwieldy approach to structure represents the fact that the speaker and the lover's romance is uncontainable.
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Meter
"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" is written in free verse, which means that it doesn't have a consistent meter. However, it's worth pointing out that, despite this lack of meter, many of its lines have the same number of syllables. For instance, the first three lines ("i carry your ... whatever is done") all contain 12 syllables, and the next line contains 11.
In fact, every line in the poem hovers around 11 or 12 syllables, lending a sense of uniformity to a poem that otherwise has very few governing principals in terms of meter or rhythm. This, however, does not mean that any kind of set meter runs from line to line. The lack of meter keeps the poem feeling vibrant and unpredictable, totally unrestrained—like the speaker's love itself.
Given that the poem plays with the conventional sonnet form, it's particularly notable that it is written in free verse, since sonnets are traditionally composed in iambic pentameter, meaning that each line contains five iambs (five da-DUMs). This, however, is obviously not the case in "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in." Consequently, the poem's lack of meter is yet another manner in which it deviates from convention and breaks the traditional concept of what counts as a sonnet.
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Rhyme Scheme
The poem doesn't have an overall set rhyme scheme, but this is not to say that it doesn't make use of rhyme in some way or another. With this in mind, the most obvious rhymes appear toward the end of the poem. The last two stanzas, for instance, do have the following rhyme scheme:
ABACD D
Or:
A ... knows
B ... bud
A ... grows
C ... hide)
D ... apartD ... heart)
This pattern mimics the rhyme scheme often found in Elizabethan sonnets, which conclude with a final quatrain (four-line stanza) followed by a rhyming couplet. In these sonnets, every other line of the final quatrain rhymes, too, making the final rhyme scheme ABAB CC.
In this poem, though, only lines 10 and 12 rhyme perfectly ("knows" and "grows"). In lines 11 and 13, "bud" and "hide" don't rhyme but do share the same final consonance on the /d/ sound, lending them a similarity that approaches slant rhyme. Overall, then, lines 10 through 15 ("here is the ... in my heart") offer up a feeling of conclusion and cohesion that the rest of the poem lacks. The poem comes to an end with a feeling of connection and unity that reflects its thematic conception of love.
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Speaker
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The speaker of "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" is never identified, making it impossible to determine the person's gender or any other identifying characteristics. The only thing that is abundantly clear is that this is somebody who is madly in love. To that end, the speaker is so in love that this relationship with the lover (whose identity also remains unknown) affects everything, from the way the speaker thinks about autonomy to the way the speaker views the external world. On the whole, the speaker is primarily interested in celebrating the lover and the romance they have together, which is why the poem has a pleasant and happy overall tone. The lack of specificity regarding the poem's speaker allows its ideas about love to feel universal; this is a poem that perhaps anyone who's been deeply in love can identify with.
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“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Setting
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The setting of "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" is unclear and nonspecific. The only specific details in the poem are those found in the natural world, as the speaker references the moon and the sun before offering up an onslaught of plant-related imagery in the second-to-last stanza. Although this attention to nature creates lush imagery that certainly connects some of the poem's more abstract ideas to a tangible environmental setting, it doesn't actually establish where the speaker is of clarify anything about the setting. After all, just because the speaker brings up the moon or talks about a tree doesn't mean anything, since it's possible for a person to think of such things without actually being near them. Consequently, the setting of the poem remains completely unknown from beginning to end. Again, this lack of specificity makes it feel more universal. Anyone who's been in love can probably identify with the poem.
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Literary and Historical Context of “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”
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Literary Context
As a love poem, "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" belongs to a long tradition of poetry addressed to romantic partners. Such poems speak to an unidentified lover using a celebratory and admiring tone, as is the case in famous poems like Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18," Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Love's Philosophy," Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty," Robert Burns's "A Red, Red Rose," and a number of other old poems. Like "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in," many of the previously mentioned poems use naturalistic imagery as a way of expressing what it feels like to be in love.
This attention to love and nature aligns Cummings with the major themes of the Romantic movement, which is perhaps why many of his poems are roughly based on the sonnet form—after all, some of the most famous poems of the Romantic era were sonnets. However, Cummings was also interested in experimenting with poetic structure. This is clear in "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in," which takes the traditional form of a sonnet and pushes it into free verse by changing the standard number of lines and avoiding any kind of fixed meter or rhyme scheme.
It is by doing things like this that Cummings managed to create his own style, which was both refreshingly new and reminiscent of past poetic practices (though some of his poems are so unique in their use of structure and syntax that they only resemble each other). As an innovative poet in the mid-1900s, then, he helped modernism—which could sometimes be very tightly controlled, serious, and measured—shift toward the more free-flowing, open minded formal experimentation that eventually defined postmodernism in the latter half of the century.
Historical Context
"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" was first published in 1952 in a volume of poetry by E. E. Cummings entitled Complete Poems: 1904–1962. In addition to all the poems Cummings published in his lifetime, this collection also included many previously unpublished poems, including "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in." All in all, Cummings was one of the most important poets of the modern era, since his idiosyncratic use of grammar, syntax, and form ultimately guided the overall trajectory in poetry toward free verse and experimentation.
Cummings was a young man during World War I and enlisted in the military in 1917. He spent his war years in the Ambulance Corps in Paris, falling in love with the city and enjoying the company of French soldiers. He was eventually taken as a prisoner in France, where he was detained for nearly four months before being released. He then returned to the United States in 1918 but was drafted into the Army shortly thereafter, though he only served a short time at a division camp in Massachusetts.
These wartime experiences served as a precursor to Cummings's work as a professional author, since his first book didn't come out until 1922. This, however, is not to say that his brief time as a soldier (or, for that matter, a prisoner) profoundly affected his writing. Although these experiences most likely worked their way into his writing in some regard, he is not known as a war poet, even if he lived during not just the First World War, but also the Second World War, which ended only seven years before the publication of "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in."
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More “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” Resources
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External Resources
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On the Big Screen — Watch Cameron Diaz read "i carry your heart(i carry it in" at a wedding scene in the 2005 film "In Her Shoes."
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Self-Portrait — It's well known that E. E. Cummings was a masterful poet, but not everyone knows that he was also a rather skilled painter. Check out, for instance, this self-portrait he painted, which is part of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
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A Reading of the Poem — Listen to E. E. Cummings himself read the poem! In particular, pay special attention to the way he paces himself and where he inserts pauses between phrases.
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Board Book — After its original publication, "i carry your heart(i carry it in" was published as an illustrated "board book." In this video, you can see the illustrations and how they pair with the lines of the poem.
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The Man Behind the Poem — Read more about E. E. Cummings in this overview of his life and work.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by E. E. Cummings
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