Today, my oldest daughter ran home to tell me that her most favourite boy-friend had given her a handmade Valentine’s card. Red, heart-shaped, with a photo of her on the front, it was accompanied by a small chocolate which she ate for her dessert. Her grin today has been enormous.
I received the best present ever in my inbox from my most favourite boy-friend – the beautiful ee cummings love poem “somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond”. I’ll share it with you:
somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully,mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what is is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
I don’t know whose grin was bigger, hers or mine.
February 14, 2007 at 9:30 pm
That’s some wonderful boyfriend you’ve got there. 😉
Happy Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Wow, this is so crazy, I just popped over here after I got your comment, and saw the poem, and had to tell you that it’s my favorite poem in the whole world. I think I even posted it once, a really long time ago. What a beautiful Valentine’s day gift!
February 14, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Such a beautiful Valentine. For the both of you.
February 14, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I wish my husband was that thoughtful.
http://www.verdispoetry.com
February 14, 2007 at 10:05 pm
How old is your daughter, Charlotte? How cute…
And the poem is lovely…
February 14, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Awwww, just too lovely! My son was relieved NOT to receive any Valentines today…. but that’s the difference of a boy’s world for you.
February 14, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Well, I would say your favorite boyfriend just gave you the sweetest gift your Valentine very gave you, huh?
February 14, 2007 at 10:48 pm
That’s EVER gave you, not VERY gave you.
February 14, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Such a wonderful Valentine to have received.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 15, 2007 at 1:27 am
That’s my favourite ee cummings love poem too. It sent me into raptures when I was younger. How lovely that you “got” it for Valentine’s.
February 15, 2007 at 8:04 am
Charlotte! Wah! I love this poem. I love e e cummings. I was so happy when I saw the title of your post!
Your daughter’s Valentine sounds so lovely. She’ll remember that one forever.
February 15, 2007 at 12:05 pm
How beautiful!
I am glad that it was a special Valentines for you both.
February 15, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Its nice to see that there are still boys out there with a bit of romance in them – so very cute…. also this is the first time I have read this poem – thanks for sharing.
February 15, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I really love ee cummings too. Happy Valentine’s day!
February 15, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Hi,
Its time for nomination of the annual SA Blog Awards and I nominated your for best foreign blog by a South African. There is a widget you can load onto your site to drive nominations and I think you should do it. You have a large and faithful South African following and deserve to be recognised. The site is http://2007.sablogawards.com/
Thanks for a great blog.
February 16, 2007 at 1:00 am
So beautiful. I expect you enjoyed a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
July 2, 2007 at 10:54 am
it’s my absolute favorite. for the past twentysomething years that poem has always brought tears to my eyes, from the first time i read it.
December 7, 2007 at 1:36 am
that is a beautiful poem my ex boyfriend wrote it out for me befor we wer going out because he was moving states it was the sweetes thing and made me cry, it was also part of the reason i said yes to him. unfortunatly he dumped me a 11 months later but i still this its the sweetest thing ever. 🙂 lol this comment is incredibley old and probably wont be read haha oohhh well
au revoir.
November 23, 2008 at 3:31 pm
nice, but ” Nobody, Not Even The Rain ” and “Such Small Hands ” aren’t song titles from the band “La Dispute”? yes they are….so , makes me wonder…
December 1, 2009 at 8:49 pm
The poem is even better if you read the final line of your post as the final line of them poem … which I did, twice, before I realized my mistake and started to laugh fit to burst.
December 4, 2010 at 1:48 am
la dispute?