she being Brand . . .

During my first reading of this poem, I felt as if I was watching a sex scene from an R-rated movie that I was not supposed to be witnessing. My hand was on the channel button, I was afraid of a surprise parental visit, flop sweat with interest. Once I realized I was 21, not 12, there was more than just an automotive metaphor for sex to the poem I was reading. I began to appreciate the pacing, structure, and punctuation that E.E. Cummings creatively manipulated to make the poem a rhythmic being. It took about three readings to completely feel the stop and start effect his poem creates, but it was a sincere creative shocker.





The genius in E.E. Cummings she being Brand… is the metaphor relating the handling of a new a car to the first sexual encounter of a recent couple. The speaker, obviously male, gives the reader a rhythmic view of how he starts “her” engine and oils “the universal joint.” Cummings purposefully gives the reader an awkward sentence or line structure so that he or she can feel the pulse of the story being told. One of the most articulated phrases is “again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg.ing,” actually gives the reader a stop and start motion that can be felt by the clutch of a car or by the sexual encounter being referenced. The punctuation and the carefully chosen words perhaps create the awkwardness felt by a new couple, who are still unaware of each other’s desires. In the phrase “cranked her / up,slipped the / clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she / kicked what the hell),” shows the reconfiguration of a new couple. The speaker realizes what he is doing isn’t what the girl (car) wants, and he is forced to change his initial attempt and reconvene. Another golden nugget of Cummings’s poem is the wording of “Bothatonce,” where all three words, both at once, are said at the same time. This device has three actual parts, the automotive, the sexual, and the literary. Not only it is speaking of car parts expanding and contracting, but it references sexual behavior through a creative writing style. E.E. Cummings brings the reader through a rollercoaster ride of a sexual encounter, starting out slow, getting a rhythm, climaxing, and the “stand- / ;still).” The reader can feel the engines of the car, and he or she can apply them to a wholly different experience.

What is worthy of note was the fact that Cummings created this enormous metaphor without using all of the human senses. It is as if he is begging the reader to feel what he is feeling, but other senses, such as sight, smell, and hearing are all relevant to a new car and/or sexual experience. With the exception of taste, which can be argued more towards a sexual occurrence, there still could have been mention of the taste of the wind, or the smell of the new interior. Maybe, Cummings kept to one sense to unify his poem; yet, the other senses could have heightened the experience the reader has with the poem.