God, america, i

"next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims..." -"next to of course god america i" by E.E. Cummings

     As the most challenging and thought provoking poem of the set, this one definitely deserves its own post. I tried to follow the guidelines of the questions which seemed to help in the interpretation. The information in quotations is a speech. If the speaker makes a deliberate point to explain that God is before country then he must be talking to a gathering of religious people. He is possibly a pastor talking to his congregation. Cummings uses "thy" to refer to the founders of our country because it fits the time period. He and his audience have a closer relationship to God and therefore use "your glorious name." I had a difficult time reasoning if the speaker is satirizing patriotism or speaking literally as a response to an event (more on that later.) I figured that in a not-so-tactful way the speaker uses clues such as "happy" and "rushed like lions" to suggest that the men who died were conscious of their fate. Instead of acting tentative and defiant, these men were like lions in that they went down with glory and dignity. On the contrary, I believe Cummings is question this mindset. Finally I reach the last question, which could be the most important in regards to the reason for the entire quoted paragraph. The speaker and his listeners have indirectly experienced an event (likely war?) which has called on their motivation and resolve. The last line of the speech asks a question and then it says the speaker drinks quickly. He is most likely pausing for another rallying dialogue in which these people are told what they can do. Of course the voice of liberty will not be mute because he believes in a republic that has endured for "centuries come and go."