She Being Brand /-New Satire

E.E. Cummings' on the death of romance in "She being Brand/-new"

Satire is most effective when its meaning can be picked up and its point understood. Some satiric poetry, however, attempts to be rhetorical yet at the same time eludes the comprehension of various readers. "She being Brand / -new" is one of those poems whose appearance can be quite deceptive to its audience upon first glance. E.E. Cummings, the author of this poem, has received extensive criticism for his controversial literature, and this said poem best exemplifies the controversial nature of this great American poet. It is an explicitly avant-garde work of literature that narrates his first ever drive on a brand new car. Though containing a seemingly innocent concept,
the controversy results from Cummings' incredibly risqué approach, as he metaphorically compares the car driving experience to a female's losing of her virginity. To the litigious soul, this poem calls for an immediate call of arms, slandering the author with accusations of sexism and taste-less vulgarity. Yet most educated readers will approach this poem as a colorful way of depicting the act of sexual union, by comparing it to breaking in a new car. This is quite a passive interpretation, however, due to Cummings' reputation as an avid satirist, I believe there is an even deeper level of satire that can be missed if the poem is viewed as simply poetic pornography. Born in 1894, Cummings experienced the change of a new century, a point in time when America was getting itself into World Power status.
Raised in a liberal yet religious family, his background is that of a traditional American "old-fashioned" family. Cummings' early life witnessed the invention of the automobile, airplane, telephone, and various other world changing innovations. American society went through a cataclysmic paradigm shift as these new inventions were commercially introduced to Americans. One of these changes was the sexual "liberation" of the youth, which was brought upon by young couple's access to automobiles, which consequentially became "hot-dating-spots", substituting for the family living room. "Parking" was a term coined in that era as a double entendre describing both the physical act of having a stopped vehicle, and also as the not-so-innocent act of premarital, um, "parking". It was in the height of this revolution that Cummings wrote this graphic poem. Given Cummings' history as a Unitarian Minister, this poem is a lamentation, more than a celebration, of sex; a topic which Cummings wrote much
about. Although the poem never declares that this is a sexual metaphor, its double entendres are made clear by the author's personification of the new car, referring to it as "she".
"she being Brand -new;and you know consequently a little stiff I was careful of her and (having oiled the universal joint tested my gas felt of her radiator made sure her springs were O. K." The graphic nature of the poem is evident in these lines, as Cummings uses the un-orthodox spacing and spelling to draw attention to the hidden meaning, giving the impression that he is giving the reader a subtle "wink". What the poem lacks in rhyme-scheme, it makes up for in euphony and verbal irony, with alliterated lines such as "I was back in neutral..again, slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing", describing the process of getting the "car" going. Following that line, as the "driving" becomes more intense, the meter becomes even more pleasant to the ear as the poem reads " passed from low through second-in-to-high like greased lightning", using these sonically pleasant combination of words to give off the impression of motion, that which is present in the act of driving, and definitely not absent from the "other" act that is implied by this poem. The poem then climaxes by graphically describing what is undoubtedly a portrait of a sexual climax, saying, " just as we turned the corner of
Divinity avenue I touched the accelerator and give her the juice, good (it was the first ride…)" Although these lines don't explicitly claim to be a description of a sexual climax, the symbol used by Cummings makes it clear, as he narrates the turning of the "corner of Divinity Avenue", an allusion to various tribal and cultic beliefs that the human body is at its most divine and can actually reach God when experiencing the ecstasy that is the physical orgasm. The poem slows down from there, as he goes on by saying "I slammed on the internalexpanding and externalcontracting brakes Bothatonce…" and then bringing the poem to a literal "dead. stand- :still." (no period used by Cummings.) "How is this not vulgar?" one might ask. And that brings us back to the previously stated idea that this is more of a lamentation than a celebration. In the predominately Christian generations that precede Cummings, sex has always been a sacred act reserved for marriage. The loss of a girl's virginity was a concept that was supposed to be ceremonious and sacred, an act exceedingly romanticized by society. Yet why does Cummings desecrate this act by comparing it to something as mechanical and un-romantic as putting a vehicle in motion? Because that's what Cummings' contemporary society was beginning to do with sex. With this poem, I believe Cummings' is confronting the emerging promiscuity in American Society. It is lamenting the death of romance in sex. The car in the story is a symbol of his contemporary dating scene. Virginities were not being lost in honeymoons anymore, they were being lost in the backseats. In this poem, Cummings' paints a picture of society. The image that the "dead. stand-;still" alludes to is that of a man's abrupt ending of the date once the "juice is given". This poem is in no way an attack on females; it is attacking males and their increasing habit of using women as a "vehicle" to their own selfish hormonal satisfaction. This depth of satire forces the reader to examine the times in which he lives and the norms that govern his/her society. Despite its extremely un-orthodox style, Cummins poem is a rhetorical success, due to the direct yet thoughtful confrontation to the flaws that plagued his generation.