She being Brand

"she being Brand"
e.e. cummings

she being Brand

-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and(having

thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.

K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her

up,slipped the
clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
kicked what
the hell)next
minute i was back in neutral tried and

again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my

lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity

avenue i touched the accelerator and give

her the juice,good

(it

was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on

the
internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and

brought allofher tremB
-ling
to a:dead.

stand-
;Still)

I think this poem is a fun one, if it at first appears difficult to read. e.e. cummings (who'd likely be irritable that I put periods between his initials) isn't known for conventional punctuation or diction. In this case, however, it's easy to discuss the ways in which cummings uses punctuation and spacing to mimic the rhythm and pacing of a sexual act. An academic could spend a great deal of time delving in to the meaning of each punctuation, elucidating the code that cummings develops over the course of his work. For my purposes, though, it's more important to note the way cummings plays with conventions of language to convey his purpose. Line length beginning short, becoming long, and then becoming short again increases the intensity through the middle section before arriving at the end of the poem and, presumably, orgasm.

These textual methods of evincing sexuality and sexual rhythm queer normative conventions of language, but that point is subsidiary to the fact that cummings has written an overtly sexual poem using an automobile as a trope. cummings has come forward and stated that the poem is merely about a vehicle, but the language obviously invites a comparison to a sexual experience. This question becomes, for me, the main focus of a queer analysis. cummings has made an intimate act extremely public in writing this poem, even referencing public spaces in the poem (the Public Gardens). Sensibilities shocked, the reader is stunned by the speaker's brazen sexual exploit. In this way, cummings destabilizes assumptions about "normal" sex, where it should take place, and its mechanics all while maintaining a metaphorical distance from his subject. Public--and apparently exuberant--sex is couched in the language of the mechanical. This technical aspect of the poem lends the experience a kind of normality and legitimacy--this subversion of societal convention, dramatized as nothing more than an exciting car ride, integrates the experience into the norm. It is cummings' ability to make a sexual act simultaneously thrilling and quotidian that queers the public space.

A caveat: the poem does not apparently treat women very kindly. The mechanization that makes the experience so acceptable in a public space also dehumanizes the speaker's sexual partner. Though the poem queers the public space, it hides the feminine narrative in the car metaphor. In fact, such a stereotypically "manly" activity, driving and playing with cars, (re)affirms dominant masculine hegemony. I see this poem as being taught as a kind of "not QT," then. The public space certainly becomes queered by the public sex act, but the metaphor of the car simultaneously reinforces the kinds of narratives that QT has the power to subvert. Leading the students through this line of reasoning will provide an opposite perspective to the remainder of the anthology, allowing them to better understand queer theory by understanding the ways in which poetry can enforce gender and sexual norms.

1) What is the dominant metaphor in the poem (what does the speaker feminize)? How does the car metaphor play on stereotypical masculinity? Why might cummings choose a car metaphor to illustrate a public sex act?
2) Did you find the unusual punctuation difficult to read? What do you think it contributes to the poem? What kind of rhythm and structure does it evoke? How might such unconventional language be useful in a poem about an ostensibly normal activity (driving) with heavy sexual undertones?
3) Do you think the poem subverts or affirms gender/sexual norms? Why?

The final question is one I have a difficult time answering myself. The mechanical language could be a way of referring to the natural, biological mechanics that go into a sexual act. Alternately, it could be a way of dehumanizing the speaker's sexual partner. I'm leaning toward the latter, but I think, in light of the unconventional language, there's a case to be made for the former.