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
Hi Friends,
Did you know that “maggie and milly and molly and may” was initially “milly and molly and maggie and may”?
I memorized this poem so early in life, and have recited it in my head so many times, I think I had forgotten that all its elements were not always as they are. The most recent issue of American Poet arrived in my mailbox with a fascimile of one of Cummings’s drafts of “maggie and milly and molly and may” on the inside back cover — a refreshing reminder that this poem was labored over through countless drafts.
Cummings rewrote the final couplet 24 times — and that’s only the drafts we have on record. The last line remains unchanged, but variations of the second-to-last line in previous drafts include:
“and if laughing’s as crying as losing can be”
“and if losing’s as certain as having can be”
“for the grief of a child is a kite in a tree”
“and as nobody said with a smile to me”
“for as nobody knows but i and he”
“but nobody noticed a rusty key”
Hopefully you’ve caught by now that April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by sending out one poem per day for the duration of the month. You can learn more about National Poetry Month at www.poets.org, the website of the Academy of American Poets.
Poems by E.E. Cummings were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 12, 2007; Poem-a-Day April 13, 2008; Poem-a-Day April 13, 2009; and Poem-a-Day April 13, 2011.