http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/cummings.nextto.html
This writing is very interesting (and not just because it was by E. E. Cummings, who is a very unique artist), and it has a good message to it.
We all know those high-strung individuals who are blindly loyal to some cause or another, those who when asked to give up something for the cause, their only complaint is they couldn't give more.
Not that having a cause to be loyal to isn't a good thing. Quite the contrary! "If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything" (Alexander Hamilton is credited for that quotation, if you're wondering)
The problem that Cummings (and myself personally) had wasn't having a cause, or having loyalty to a cause, but BLIND loyalty for a cause.
In this poem, the narrator questions the honor of dying for America in war. Dying isn't exactly something to just ignore or shrug off, yet there are a lot of people who feel that as long as it's for America, it's worth it.
Is it though? Is dying for anything worth it for that matter? That's a question we all need to ask ourselves, instead of getting sucked in to blind loyalty. And if after you thought about it, and you still believe giving your life to preserve or better America is noble and just, then all the more power to you! Just don't ignore the fact that the question needs to be asked.
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