maggie and milly and molly and may - by e. e. cummings (1894 - 1962)

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

"Edward Estlin Cummings is known for his radical experimentation with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax; he abandoned traditional techniques and structures to create a new, highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression."

The four young women, maggie, milly, molly and may are in the same place – on the beach. There, they encounter different things. Maggie comes across a shell. A shell is something small, common and inexpensive. Not many people would be able to appreciate its special beauty, especially if their lives are full of trouble. However, Maggie appreciates  the shell’s uniqueness: it can sing. And listening to that song gives her pleasure and diverts her mind from her trouble. Her reaction to the music created by the shell tells us that Maggie is someone who has a sensitive soul who responds to music positively. Similarly, millie discovers a stranded starfish which reminds her of a star that fallen down to earth. The starfish does not belong on the beach – it would die should it remain there. So as an act friendship Millie would have returned the starfish to the sea. Millie sees the importance of something as small as a stranded starfish. This tells us that she is someone who loves every living thing. Molly on the other hand is frightened by nature. This tells us that she is not familiar with the natural world like her friends, Maggie and milly. Lastly, may finds a small stone on the beach. It is like a miniature Earth – because it has come from Earth and it contains parts of Earth  May identifies the connections between things in nature. However, the stone has no friends. This signals lack of friendship in may’s life. All in all, what the girls find noteworthy tells us more about them .