FREE ESSAY ON SOUND AND TYPOGRAPHY OF IN JUST.

SOUND AND TYPOGRAPHY OF IN JUST.

Upon looking at e. e. cummings's poem, "in Just-",perhaps, two features immediately become
apparent: the use of white space between some words and lines, and the multiple use of a
single word supporting an entire line. To a lesser degree, the poem's visual also
features the boys' and girls' names joined together as though they were each one, and the
capitalization of the "m" in "balloonMan" towards the poem's end. All these features
contribute to how the poem will be read, and when the poem is read, the sound, furthered
by alliteration, assumes an alternating rhythm of excitement and measured awareness. That
is, an accelerated tempo that reflects the excited manner of child-like exuberance for
springtime revelry, and the lull in tempo that is attributed to the measured awareness or
ambivalent feelings felt towards the " goat-footed balloonMan." The poem's rapid and then
measured tempo creates an artistic tension that coincides with the speaker's account of a
remembered spring. By employing white space, alliteration, compressed conjunctions, and
some unconventional capitalization, e. e. cummings creates a dream vision of a remembered
springtime- revelry that reads with both excitement and a measured awareness.
White space is used after the first line, "in Just-", by cummings to emphasize the
speaker's observation that only in spring do the following things happen. The white space
after "spring" in the second line suggests that the speaker ponders first what his
audience later learns to be a springtime memory . The white space is quite obviously used
for the benefit of someone listening to the poem being read. The white space in the first
line between "Just-" and "spring" of the second line builds suspense when the reader
pauses to simulate white space, and again, after "spring" when a child-like description
defines what is uniquely available only in the spring. That is "when the world is mud- /
luscious"(lines 1-2). Almost immediately cummings uses white space to direct the sound
and rhythm of the poem that is not unlike conversation.
A gradual dream-like state is suggested to the poem's audience by cummings's "far and
wee" refrain, which is given increasing white space and therefore longer pauses, until
each word of the refrain supports its own line. Initially the refrain complements the
speaker's excited springtime revelry; in fact, line five flows nicely with the previous
line's slower tempo, and then acts with a slingshot effect to propel the poem's most
rapidly read line "and eddieandbill come"(6) with the momentum of the conventional
typeset "and wee"(5). Lending an aural push to the sixth line, little tension is
attributed to the "lame balloonman."(4) Whereas, white space separates every word of the
repeated refrain in line thirteen, which does not lend an aural push to " bettyandisbel
come dancing"(14) like it did for the similar line six, and the conflicting tempo
effectively increases the tension felt for the "queer / old balloonman"(11-12) who seems
to interrupt the speaker's pleasant memories every time the springtime "world" is viewed
approvingly. The refrain at this point in the poem begins to slow tempo considerably
since white space and its required pause separate "and" and "wee"(13). The refrain's
final repeat has each word occupying a separate line and ends the poem. Because of the
contributing white space, the gradual decrease in tempo has the aural effect, perhaps, of
the speaker lulling himself to sleep. Soundly reducing the poem's pace to a crawl,
cummings has many readers whispering the final word "wee"(24).
The pauses afforded by white space not only affect the poem's tempo but also contribute
emphases. Save for line twenty-one, which holds two words, the last nine lines of "in
Just-" are supported by a single word. Although all nine lines create an emphasis alone,
two of those nine lines probably command greater significance. The double-spaced
indentation of "the" in line nineteen holds much suspense for the audience since "the"
follows "and" a structural change from the poem's refrain of "when the world is..."
(2&10) that until this point follows "spring"(2&9). The added suspense comes with the
extended pause to simulate the end-line white space and the indentation. However,
"the"(19) prepares an even longer pause and anticipation for probably the most
significant line "goat-footed"(20) because the source of the poem's tension is then
revealed. Although the extra white space afforded to "goat-footed"(20) follows that of
the poem's line structure, as in lines five, ten, and fifteen, the single- hyphenated
word commands further notice and emphasis because of the quintuple-spaced indentation it
is given, and no doubt, intended to deliver greater impact that way by cummings. The
greater impact is justified since the audience now becomes privy to the identity of the
once cryptically described "little"and "lame"(3 and 4), "queer"and "old"(11 and 12),
relatively innocuous " balloonman"(4 and 12) to the newly revealed "goat-footed /
balloonMan"(20 and 21). The "balloonMan" is suggested to be the mythical Beelzebub or
lecherous Pan overseeing the speaker and his playmates, which complements the tension
derived from the poem's conflicting rhythms and supports cummings's poetic dream vision
of the speaker's remembered springtime-revelry. Granted, the visual change to the poem
regarding the last nine lines is obvious, the poem's beat nearly comes to a halt from the
previous rapid and measured ones, imparting the quiet wonder-if not emphatic delivery of
the last nine lines, and all serve to underline the growing experience found by the
speaker that particular spring season; the season that connotatively suggests new growth
and proliferation.
Equally important to the aural punctuation given to the "goat-footed / balloonMan" in
line twenty and twenty-one of "in Just-", is the unconventional capitalization of the "m"
in "balloonMan"(21). The capitalized "m" dictates that the poem be read with stressed
emphasis on "Man" within the word "balloonMan"(21). Coupled with the white space after
"goat-footed"(20) and its accompanying simulated pause, the stressed final-syllable of
"balloonMan"(21) delivers an extra aural weight. Significant to the meaning in the poem
of the word's unconventional capitalization is the effect it has to stress the difference
of classification between the children and the adult "balloonMan"(20).
Another example of unconventional capitalization employed by cummings is in the poem's
first line. The poem's first two words are intentionally switched in order, so that
cummings can convey both the speech of a child and have the word "Just-"(1) emphasized by
virtue of its capitalization. The inverted order suggests the speech of a child because
it is grammatically incorrect to say, in just spring. Important to note too, is that in
the poem "Just-"(1) modifies "spring"(2)-hence the hyphenation. "Just-"(1) also benefits
from further aural intensity, as does the word "spring"in line two, with the pause to
simulate the white space that cummings places after the hyphen.
More child-like speech can be found in lines six and fourteen, in which cummings uses
another unconventional practice. That is, compressed conjunctions are used to join the
children's names, which affect the speed in which the names are read. In line six
"eddieandbill" and line fourteen's "bettyandisbel" change the poem's rhythm to a rapid
excited pace. Springtime revelling is suggested by the speaker's enthusiasm as he
describes excitedly what activities his playmates are again able to do because it is
spring.
In contrast, cummings uses alliteration to slow the poem's tempo, as well as communicate
the speaker's springtime enjoyment. For example, " when the world is mud- / luscious the
little / lame balloonman"(2 - 4 ) must be read slowly in order to enunciate all the "l"
consonants. The aural effect is that the audience is forced to place importance on this
slower passage, which prepares the poem's tempo for the increasing measured awareness of
the "balloonman"(4) who is described to "[whistle] far and wee."(5) Although the internal
alliteration of lines seven through nine have the same slowing effect on the poem's
tempo, cummings's choice of words and line length communicate the speaker's springtime
enjoyment. Most who read, "running from marbles and / piracies and it's / spring"(7 -9)
or the alliteration found "from hop-scotch and jump-rope"(15) ,wish to return and repeat
it because the lines are fun to say. This pleasant effect must be attributed to the
speaker's springtime revelry who also must wish to return to these activities if not for
the constant stressful reminder of "the queer/ old balloonman [whistling] / far and
wee"(11 - 13). The poem's conflicting tempos add tension to the speaker's springtime
memory, but the slowing of the tempo through cummings's use of alliteration focuses the
audience on the two emotional elements: springtime celebration and the ambivalence felt
towards the ever-present "balloonMan"(21).
"in Just-" is probably a good example of a free-verse poem. The poem's visual appearance
might be compared to a page of dialogue within a drama-script . What makes cummings's
poem better is the direction given to the reader, such as the odd capitalization to
suggest an accented syllable, or the white space to imply a pause, better still, his use
of compressed conjunctions to effect haste and emphatic tones, add the repetitive
refrains for accent and syncopation and one could set this poem to music. 
Bibliography
e.e.cummings-in Just