A Leaf Falls

E.E. Cummings' poem [l(a] is only, in its entirety, four words long. The key to the explication of the poem is in the one word, "loneliness," that contains the other three, "a leaf falls." Thus the theme of the poem appears to be loneliness. This is evident not only from the fact that the word "loneliness" itself is the focal point of the poem but also because of the way Cummings chooses to present the poem to the reader.

The poem is typed out in such a way that each of its nine lines contains no more than two letters, save the seventh line (which has three) and the ninth and final line (which has five). This presents the reader with a visual image of an almost completely straight, thin vertical line, alluding to the idea of loneliness by pointing to the solitary nature of the spread of letters. The way the poem is written it appears to be the only thing on the page - a solitary, lonesome line in the middle of a sea of white.

Also pointing to the theme of loneliness in the poem is Cummings choice of how to separate the letters in the vertical line. By placing the "o-n-e" from "loneliness" in line seven we again get the impression of a single, solitary figure. The next line emphasizes this, consisting only of one letter - the second 'l' in "loneliness." Not only does the letter simply look lonely on the line all by itself, but it also resembles the number one.

Wrapping the phrase "a leaf falls" inside of the word "loneliness" just pushes the theme further, in that watching a leaf fall is arguably one of the loneliest, contemplative and intimate images one could come up with as a tool for the task at hand. It's as if all time stops.