Humanity I Love You Literary Devices

Words: 656
Pages: 3

Humanity I Love You,” tells of all the flaws of society. The poem shows distaste for society, and how it is divided into different social classes, focusing overall on humanity. The poem establishes the poet's stance of humanity with use of verbal irony, tone, metaphors, and imagery . “Humanity I Love You” was written by E.E. Cummings, a renowned poet who is known by many. In 1917, he was enlisted to as a volunteer ambulance driver in WWI. This poem is believed to be a reflection of war, and his disapproval of the different classes of society. The poem is very cynical, and his use of literary devices help to further explain his disappointment of the selfishness, ignorance, and imperfections of humanity. “Humanity I Love You” contains many examples of the verbal irony that cummings uses to show his hate towards society, and humanity. One very prominent example of verbal irony is …show more content…
When first read, the reader may think that the poem is praising humanity. The repeated use of the words “Humanity i love you” in each stanza creates an almost childlike image in mind, as if the reader is suggesting why society is wonderful. This is not the case though. The imagery contributes to the overall meaning of the poem, which makes the reader believe humanity is good, but in fact, it isn't. “Dangles from his watch chain” creates the image of the appearance of wealth in Stanza 1, while “committing nuisances” in Stanza 5 creates the image of disturbing domestic lives. Many of these images are later revealed to be false with the line “I hate you” being reader and at the end of the poem Humanity I love you” is a poem that showcases the world we know today, in all of its glories and faults, on a sheet of paper. The poem challenges the reader, and causes one to take a deeper look into not only the poem, but society itself. This poem is one that should be read and thought about by