E.E. Cummings wasn't exactly known for playing by the rules. If you've ever tried to read his stuff, you know the drill: lowercase letters everywhere, weird parenthetical interruptions, and syntax that looks like a typewriter had a mild stroke. But i sing of olaf glad and big is different. It’s not just a stylistic experiment. It’s a gut-punch.
It’s arguably the most aggressive anti-war poem in American literature, and honestly, it’s kinda terrifying how relevant it still feels. We’re talking about a piece written in 1931 that deals with conscientious objection, military torture, and the specific brand of American "patriotism" that values blind obedience over human life.
Olaf isn't a hero in the way we usually think. He’s a "conscientious objector." That’s a dry, academic term for someone who simply says, "No, I’m not going to kill people for you." In the poem, this refusal turns him into a target for some of the most descriptive, visceral cruelty ever put to paper.
The Real Story Behind Olaf's Defiance
Most people think Cummings just made Olaf up as a symbol. That’s not quite right. While the poem is a work of art, it’s rooted in the very real, very ugly experiences Cummings had during World War I. Cummings served in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps and ended up in a French detention camp because his letters home were a bit too honest about his lack of hatred for Germans.
He saw firsthand what happens when the "machinery of state" grinds up an individual.
In i sing of olaf glad and big, Olaf is described as having a "warm heart" and a "most_uncommon_kind" of conscience. When the "colonel" (a figure of mindless authority) tries to force him to serve, Olaf responds with a line that is both hilarious and devastating: "I will not kiss your f.ing flag."
Cummings used the abbreviation "f.ing" not just to bypass censors of the 1930s, but to show the raw, unpolished anger of a man who is done being polite. Olaf isn't a philosopher. He's a guy who reached his limit. He is "glad and big," a physical presence that the military cannot shrink, even when they start using their boots on him.
Why the Structure is So Messy
You’ll notice the poem moves fast. It’s breathless. It feels like a report from a crime scene.
🔗 Read more: Baba au Rhum Recipe: Why Most Home Bakers Fail at This French Classic
- The introduction of Olaf as a "conscientious objector."
- The arrival of the "officers" who represent the "yellow" (cowardly) side of patriotism.
- The escalating violence, described with a detached, almost medical coldness.
- The final, tragic "passing" of Olaf.
The lack of capitalization isn't just a gimmick here. By refusing to capitalize "i" or "olaf" or "america," Cummings is leveling the playing field. He’s saying that the individual (Olaf) and the state (America) are both just parts of the same messy reality. Except, of course, the state has the bayonets.
Understanding the "Yellow" Patriotism
Cummings is incredibly biting when he describes the people who torture Olaf. He calls the officers "well-beloved" and "noncoms," but he highlights their cowardice. They are "yellow." In the 1930s, calling someone yellow was the ultimate insult. It meant you were a craven coward.
The irony is thick. The men who are supposedly "brave" soldiers are the ones ganging up on a single man because he won’t say the words they want to hear. This is where i sing of olaf glad and big moves from a poem about war to a poem about the fragility of the ego. The officers can't stand Olaf not because he’s a threat to national security, but because his existence proves that they are choice-less cogs.
Olaf’s silence—or rather, his refusal to yield—makes them look small. So they try to make him smaller.
"there is some s. I will not eat"
This is the core of the poem. It’s the ultimate statement of personal boundary. We all have that line. For Olaf, that line was participating in a war he didn't believe in. He wasn't a coward; he was "more brave than me: more blond than you." Cummings is directly addressing the reader here, accusing us of being less courageous than the man we’re watching die.
The Brutal Reality of the Ending
Let’s talk about how Olaf ends up. It’s not a Hollywood ending. There’s no last-minute rescue. After being beaten, kicked, and subjected to things "which I shall not repeat," Olaf is thrown into a dungeon.
💡 You might also like: Aussie Oi Oi Oi: How One Chant Became Australia's Unofficial National Anthem
He dies there.
"but-though dead-Olaf is free."
This is a heavy, complicated kind of freedom. It’s the freedom of someone who could not be broken. Cummings uses the word "Christ" to describe Olaf at the end, which is a massive pivot. Throughout the poem, the tone is sarcastic and biting, but it ends with a moment of genuine, somber reverence. Olaf becomes a martyr.
But he’s a secular martyr. He didn't die for a religion; he died for his own soul. He died because he refused to let his conscience be dictated by a colonel with a grudge.
Why Scholars Still Argue About This Poem
Some critics, like those who focus on the "New Criticism" school of the mid-20th century, loved to analyze the meter. They’d point out how the rhythm mimics a march that keeps tripping over itself. Others, more recently, look at the poem through a political lens, seeing it as a critique of the "Red Scare" and the suppression of dissent.
But honestly? You don't need a PhD to get it. You just need to have felt that pressure to "go along to get along" when you knew something was fundamentally wrong. i sing of olaf glad and big is a scream against the "well-dressed" cruelty of civilization.
It’s also worth noting the language. "Our president being of opinion that / liberty should be compressed." This is a direct jab at Woodrow Wilson and the Espionage Act of 1917. People were actually thrown in jail for saying exactly what Olaf says in the poem. It wasn't a hypothetical. It was the law of the land.
📖 Related: Ariana Grande Blue Cloud Perfume: What Most People Get Wrong
Practical Takeaways from Cummings’ Masterpiece
If you’re reading this poem for a class, or just because you’re into mid-century poetry, there are a few things you should actually do to "get" it.
Read it aloud.
Seriously. The way the words "burn," "bite," and "blow" hit the tongue is intentional. It’s a percussive poem. It’s meant to sound like a series of strikes.
Look at the dates. Research the "Great War" conscientious objectors. Men like Evan Thomas (the brother of Norman Thomas) faced horrific treatment in places like Fort Leavenworth. Realizing that Olaf isn't just a metaphor makes the poem significantly harder to stomach.
Question the "Yellow" characters.
In your own life, who are the "officers"? Who are the people demanding conformity not because it’s right, but because your independence makes them uncomfortable?
Embrace the mess.
Don't try to fix the grammar in your head. Let the sentences run into each other. That disorientation is exactly what it feels like to be caught in a system that doesn't care about your logic.
The Actionable Insight
To truly appreciate i sing of olaf glad and big, you have to stop looking for a "moral of the story." There isn't a neat lesson here. Instead, use the poem as a diagnostic tool for your own convictions.
Ask yourself: what is the "s." that I will not eat?
Identify your non-negotiables. In a world that constantly asks for "compression" of our liberties and our personalities, knowing where your "Olaf" lives is the only way to stay "glad and big." Start by writing down three things you would never do, even if everyone around you was doing them. That is your baseline. That is your "uncommon conscience."
Once you define those boundaries, protect them with the same stubbornness Olaf showed. You don't have to be a martyr, but you do have to be yourself. That is the only way to remain, as Cummings put it, "free."