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

By E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go, my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you.

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)1

This wondrous poem has captivated lovers and parents since first published in 1952. It has been recited at weddings and funerals, sung by choirs, adapted into a children's book with original illustrations, and so much more. Its enduring theme of love is universal.

The children's book I Carry Your Heart With Me is a "tender interpretation of one of E.E. Cummings most beloved poems, a mother carries her child and introduces her to the wonders of the world." Beautifully illustrated by Mati McDonough, it begins with an illustration of the pregnant mother-to-be.2

Listening to the California high school choir sing the poem put to music by David Dackau3 pierces the heart. It evokes joy and resolve to cherish the loved one forever and for the listener to feel completely loved. It would seem that this poem recited or sung to an unborn child and then continued throughout their early years would be sustenance for both parent and child-a solace in times of suffering for both the child and the parent and a continuous source of deep and all abiding love.

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