kumrads die because they’re told)

kumrads die because they’re told)
kumrads die before they’re old
(kumrads aren’t afraid to die
kumrads don’t
and kumrads won’t
believe in life)and death knows whie

(all good kumrads you can tell
by their altruistic smell
moscow pipes good kumrads dance)
kumrads enjoy
s.freud knows whoy
the hope that you may mess your pance

every kumrad is a bit
of quite unmitigated hate
(travelling in a futile groove
god knows why)
and so do i
(because they are afraid to love

Analysis, meaning and summary of e.e. cummings's poem kumrads die because they’re told)


  1. Brian says:

    Cummings wasn’t particularly against the USSR, but against the mechanized, industrial world in general. That includes the same elements in the US and all western countries (and he does mock the US in much the same way in other some other poems).

  2. Jane says:

    e.e.cummings was one of the most underated poets of his time. It is good to see that he is still known. I see that cummings was capable of forning a new opinion based on first hand knowledge and saw the evil that existed in the Soviet Union.

  3. Karen says:

    To add a little bit of information behind this, I just wanted to add that Cummings was originally a supporter of the Soviet Union. However, his views changed after visiting it, and he became highly critical of it.

  4. ConqueringId says:

    You are right about the generalization but Cummings was in WWI, he knows a thing or two about war. It was wrong of him, however, to speak of something he wasn’t involved in this way.

  5. Lane says:

    I now live in the US but am originally from Russia. I find it very interesting that Cold War prejudices could find root in such an open minded individual. It just shows how blind everyone was (not just on the side of the US of course). “kumrads” is a derrogatory form of comrades and certainly not a name anyone wishes to be known by. I still really admire e.e. cummings for his poetry but American culture never ceases to amaze me with it’s willingness to exclude others based on simple-minded prejudices. Images like these from the Cold War that we now know are based on government-encouraged prejudices should warn us all about the present situation in Iraq and other areas of the Middle East. Hopefully everyone will not go down the Cold-War-esque path that so many are already following.

Leave a Reply

