“since feeling is first” was published in E. E. Cummings’s 1926 poetry collection is 5. Released at perhaps the height of the poet’s career, is 5 features poems that exemplify Cummings’s iconoclastic, experimental, witty, and often satirical style. In the foreword, Cummings expresses his commitment to breaking social and literary conventions: “Whereas nonmakers must content themselves with the merely undeniable fact that two times two is four, [the one who rejects convention] rejoices in a purely irresistible truth(to be found, in abbreviated costume upon the title page of the present volume).”
Situated within such a radical collection of poetry, “since feeling is first” also seems to argue that two plus two “is five,” and that there is an “irresistible truth”—feeling, hence the title—that is superior to mathematical facts. "since feeling is first" recalls the tradition of "carpe diem" poetry (such as Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," which often urges a young female addressee to enjoy life by submitting to the speaker's advances, before the inevitable march of time destroys the moment. Cummings' poem follows this format but emphasizes the metaphysical aspect, generalizing about the importance of feeling in life as a whole. Reading this poem, pay close attention to the speaker’s argument about the relationship between emotion and reason: Is it a contentious relationship? Whose side is the speaker on? And which side is love itself on?
