“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]”

While “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” is technically in free verse, its form draws inspiration from the traditional English sonnet—a poem composed of 14 lines—and employs a loose rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. However, the poem does not use a meter and has 15 lines, one more than the sonnet. Moreover, its unusual line breaks, especially Line 5, mitigate the traditional rhyme scheme, drawing attention away from any exact or off rhymes at the end of each line. This creates a tension, as the reader/listener may hear the underlying traditional cadence while experiencing the sensation of something formally new.

In the traditional English sonnet, the volta (emotional turn) occurs in the last couplet, which comments on the 12 lines prior often by changing the direction and tenor of the whole poem. However, E. E. Cummings instead borrows from the Italian sonnet form for his volta, using the last six lines of his poem to deepen the speaker’s thoughts of the prior eight. The first two stanzas (Lines 1-9) concentrate on the speaker’s feelings for the beloved, while the third stanza emphasizes the