So, I got literally no criticism on this open prompt (I've run out of bad ones to re-edit), so I guess I'll just judge where it could be improved.

 

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

    My favorite line of poetry in the world goes "Since feeling is first/ who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never wholly kiss you" (cummings 1). This is the opening phrase in a poem by e.e. cummings.  It introduces the theme of impulse over mind. It also presents the premise of the poem, an appeal to his love. This short phrase is full of rich language and deep meaning, and works an an effective introduction.

    "Since feeling is first" is the first line, and it makes a powerful assumption, that feeling trumps all other senses (cummings 1). This condition holds true throughout the piece, as when he declares "kisses are a better fate/ than wisdom", valuing emotion and affection over reason (cummmings 8). He reasserts the power of small emotive motions, like kisses, in his line  "-the best gesture of my brain is less than/ your eyelids' flutter..." (cummings 11). This line, again, subverts rationalizing and reason in favor of spontaneity. Without an opening line to introduce and establish this theme of intuition and romance, the entire poem would be an argument, rather than evidence to an undeniable fact.

     

    When analyzing a poem, one of the most important questions is 'who is this written for?'. In the case of "since feeling is first", it is answered in the opening lines. As he explains "who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never wholly kiss you", he describes what he can offer her [the subject] that many men cannot (cummings 2). He is confessing and he is convincing, "my blood approves", as he woos the object of his passion (cummings 7). This line is more evidence for the motif of feeling - he seeks the approval of his own heart and soul rather than a society or authority. In the final stanza, he speaks the vow he has been working up to all along, "We are for each other: then/  laugh, leaning back in my arms" (cummings 13). 

    The opening and most memorable line from "since feeling is first" is effective because it introduces the themes and message of the poem with conviction. The claim in the first stanza is warranted in the following stanzas, as his message of love unfolds. These important functions of the opening phrase are expressed artfully and skillfully. The message comes across effortlessly, "for life's not a paragraph/ And death i think is no parenthesis" (cummings 15). In addressing the subject of the poem and the audience, the opening line affirms the meaning of the poem as a whole.